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la·vash

(lə-väsh)

A thin unleavened flatbread of Armenian origin.

[Ultimately (partly via Persian lavaš and Turkish lavaş) from Armenian lavaš, variant of loš, from medieval Armenian lawš; perhaps from Armenian *law-, flat (compare modern Armenian dialectal lavaz, very thin) + -aš, noun suffix, or perhaps of Semitic origin and akin to Syriac layšā, lump of dough (from lāš, to knead; akin to Akkadian lâšu, Ge'ez losa, and Hebrew lāš, to knead).]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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