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You are here: Home / Language / Why Is the String For Tying Shoes Called “Lace” and Where Did the Word Shoelace Come From?

Why Is the String For Tying Shoes Called “Lace” and Where Did the Word Shoelace Come From?

March 20, 2020 by Karen Hill

The word lace began its route into thirteenth-century English as the Latin word lacere, which means “to entice.”

On its way through Spanish and French, lace became a hunting term meaning “rope net,” “snare,” or “noose.”

In 1555, because fancy lace reminded someone of a hunting net, the word lace was employed to describe an ornamental netted fabric pattern and, shortly after, as a cord for tying, such as a shoelace.

As its use in hunting diminished, lace or “netting” took on the primary meaning of “ornamental trim.”

The expression “to lace a drink” by adding a dash of liquor derived from the new habit of adding sugar to coffee or tea during the seventeenth century, and also meant “ornamental trim.”

The Spanish word for a “hunting lace” or a rope was Lazo, which gave cowboys the lasso.

“Laced mutton” was an old expression for a prostitute.

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Filed Under: Language

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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