English

Alternative forms

• Lora (rare)

Proper noun

Laura

1. A female given name.
   • ~1591 William Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet: Act II, Scene IV:

     Now is he for the numbers that Petrarch flowed in; Laura to his lady was but a kitchen-wench; marry, she had a better love to be-rime her;

   • 1960 Peter S. Beagle: A Fine And Private Place. Random House Publishing, 1982:The Fantasy Worlds of Peter Beagle. ISBN 0345300815 page 258:

     Laura was saying something. A mellifluous name, he thought. I wish she were far away, so I could call her.

Usage notes

• Also used as a feminine equivalent of Laurence.

Related terms

• Laurel, Lauren, Laurie, Loretta, Lori, Lorraine, Lauretta

Translations

Anagrams

• aural

Czech

Etymology

From Latin Laura.

Proper noun

Laura f

1. A female given name.

Danish

Etymology

From Latin Laura.

Proper noun

Laura

1. A female given name.

References

• Danskernes Navne, based on CPR data: 21 161 females with the given name Laura have been registered in Denmark between about 1890 (=the population alive in 1967) and January 2005, with the frequency peak in the 2000s. Accessed on 19 June 2011.

Estonian

Etymology

From Latin Laura.

Proper noun

Laura

1. A female given name.

Faroese

Proper noun

Laura

1. A female given name

Usage notes

Matronymics

• son of Laura: Lauruson
• daughter of Laura: Laurudóttir

Declension

Finnish

Etymology

From Latin Laura.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɑu̯rɑ/
• Rhymes: -ɑurɑ
• Hyphenation: Lau‧ra

Proper noun

Laura

1. A female given name.
   • 1931 Frans Emil Sillanpää, Nuorena nukkunut, in Silja ja Ihmiset suviyössä, Suuri Suomalainen Kirjakerho (1988), ISBN 951-643-290-5, page 63:

     Ja sen jälkeen taas parin vuoden kuluttua tyttö, jonka nimeksi pantiin Laura, sekin Salmeluksen vanhoja perintönimiä.

   • 1991 Anna-Leena Härkönen, Akvaariorakkautta, Otava (2008), ISBN 978-951-1-17321-2, s.183:

     —Tässä on meidän Laura ja tuo pienempi on Suvi, Marita sano.

     Mä ajattelin tylsänä että kiva ku joku sinänsä epäsovinnainen ihminen oli antanu lapsilleen ihan normaalit nimet eikä mitään muotiväännöksiä niin ku monet. Kaikki sampot ja santerit ja tonterit säälittää mua suunnattomasti.

   • 2013 Kari Hotakainen, Luonnon laki, Siltala, ISBN 978-952-234-185-3, pages 17-18:

     Sen ojensi hänelle sairaanhoitaja, jonka vasemman rinnan yläpuolella oli nimikyltti: Laura. Nimi toi Rautalan mieleen vanhojen elokuvien palvelijan, joka alistuneesti nyökkäillen sipsuttelee isossa ruokasalissa tarkistamassa, että kaikki on varmasti valmiina mahakkaan tilanomistajan ja hänen rouvansa ruokailuhetkeä varten. Kävi mielessä myös mainoksen Elovena-tyttö, vaikka Lauran hiuksen olivat pikimustat ja hänellä oli korvissaan mustat napit. Hutiin siis meni Rautalan arvaus.

Declension

French

Etymology

From Latin Laura. A Latinate variant of Laure.

Proper noun

Laura

1. A female given name.

German

Etymology

From Latin Laura.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlaʊ̯ʀa]
• Hyphenation: Lau‧ra

Proper noun

Laura

1. A female given name.

Italian

Etymology

From Latin Laura.

Proper noun

Laura f

1. A female given name.

Latvian

Etymology

First recorded as a given name of Latvians in 1819. From Latin Laura.

Proper noun

Laura f

1. A female given name.

Related terms

• Lauris

References

• Klāvs Siliņš: Latviešu personvārdu vārdnīca. Riga "Zinātne" 1990, ISBN 5-7966-0278-0
• Population Register of Latvia: Laura was the only given name of 8301 persons in Latvia on May 21st 2010.

Norwegian

Etymology

From Latin Laura.

Proper noun

Laura

1. A female given name.

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowing from Latin Laura.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈlaw.ɾɐ/

Proper noun

Laura f

1. A female given name, equivalent to English Laura

Slovak

Proper noun

Laura f

1. A female given name.

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin Laura.

Proper noun

Laura ‎(f)

1. A female given name.

Swedish

Etymology

From Latin Laura. First recorded in Sweden in 1737.

Proper noun

Laura

1. A female given name.

English

A laura (cluster of caves for hermits)

Alternative forms

• lavra

Noun

laura ‎(plural lauras or laurae)

1. (historical, Roman Catholic Church) A number of hermitages or cells in the same neighborhood occupied by anchorites who were under the same superior
   • 1864, Charles Kingsley, Lecture IX: The Monk a Civilizer, The Roman and the Teuton: A Series of Lectures Delivered Before the University of Cambridge, page 240,

     The solitaries of the Thebaid found that they became selfish wild beasts, or went mad, if they remained alone; and they formed themselves into lauras, 'lanes' of huts, convents, under a common abbot or father.

2. (historical, Eastern Orthodox Church) A cluster of cells or caves for hermits, with a church and sometimes a refectory at the centre.
   • 1966, E. C. Butler, Chapter XVIII: Monasticism, H. M. Gwatkin, J. P. Whitney (editors), The Cambridge Medieval History, Volume 1, page 529,

     There were the cenobia, or monasteries proper, where the life was according to the lines laid down by St Basil; and there were the lauras, wherein a semi-eremitical life was followed, the monks living in separate huts within the enclosure.

Anagrams

• aural

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈlau̯.ra/, [ˈɫau̯.ra]

Etymology 1

laura flōrēns

Noun

laura f ‎(genitive laurae); first declension

1. Egyptian rue (Ruta angustifolia)
   • (Can we find and add a quotation of Apuleius to this entry?)

Declension

First declension.

References

• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “laura”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette, page 894/1.

Etymology 2

From the Ancient Greek λαύρα ‎(laúra).

Noun

laura f ‎(genitive laurae); first declension

1. (Late Latin) monastery, convent, laura

Declension

First declension.

Descendants

• English: laura

References

• LAURA in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• “Laura” on page 404 of Domenico Magri’s Hierolexicon, ſive Sacrum Dictionarium (editio omnium recentissima, augmented by Stefano Sciugliaga, 1765)