Obs. exc. dial. [OE. lacu str. fem.; the sense shows that it is not ad. L. lacus (see next) but a native word, from a Teut. root *lak- denoting moisture; cf. OE. lęccan to moisten, LEACH v.2, also LEAK sb. and v.
The OHG. lahka (G. lache) pond, bog, is formally coincident, but is perh. of Latin origin.]
A small stream of running water; also, a channel for water. Obs. exc. dial.
955. Charter of Edred, in Earle, Charters, 382. Ðæt to Mæʓðe forda andlang lace ut on Temese.
1235–52. Rentalia Glaston. (Somerset Rec. Soc.), 35. Pro decem acris inter Lak.
c. 1450. Holland, Houlat, 19. This riche Revir dovn ran … Throwe ane forest … And for to lende by that laike thocht me levar.
1559. Morwyng, Evonym., 346. The matter must … be by and by tied and pressed in a little presse of wood, with a little lake or gutter of wood.
c. 1630. Risdon, Surv. Devon, § 341 (1810), 351. Lyn, a pretty lake, streameth out of the Exmoor hills.
1630. T. Westcote, Devon. (1845), 265. We shall find him [Taw] a very small lake at his birth in Dartmoor.
1842–71. Pulman, Rustic Sk., 6. Vrem rise to mouth there’s lots o’ lakes,—An rivers zum—that into ’n fall.
1880. E. Cornw. Gloss., Lake, a small stream of running water.
1885. Pall Mall Gaz., 11 June, 4/1. Each tiny drain, called locally a ‘lake,’ was edged broadly by a band of great saffron-hued king cups.
b. Comb.: † lake-frith, the close-time for fishing in a stream; † lake-rift, a gully made by a stream.
1235–52. Rentalia Glaston. (Somerset Rec. Soc.), 141. Et debet servare Lakefrithe.
13[?]. E. E. Allit. P., B. 536. And lyonnez and lebardez to þe lake ryftes.
