Loch

See also: loch, lòch, lôch, łöch, and Łoch

English

Etymology

Two main origins:

• Borrowed from German Loch, a topographic surname for someone who lived by a hollow or valley.
• From Scottish Gaelic loch (“loch, lake”), a Scottish topographic surname.

Proper noun

Loch (plural Lochs)

1. A surname.

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Loch is the 12496^th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 2481 individuals. Loch is most common among White (88.35%) individuals.

Further reading

• Hanks, Patrick, editor (2003), “Loch”, in Dictionary of American Family Names, volume 2, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 451.

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɔx/, [lɔx], [lɔχかい]

• Audio (Austria):

  (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

Etymology 1

From Middle High German loch, from Old High German loh, from Proto-West Germanic *lok (“lock; hole”). Doublet of Lücke (“gap”) and Luke (“hatch”).

Noun

Loch n (strong, genitive Loches or Lochs, plural Löcher, diminutive Löchlein n or Löchelchen n)

1. hole; perforation
2. hole in the ground; pit
3. gap; bare spot
4. (dentistry) cavity
5. dungeon; underground prison
6. (colloquial) prison; jail
7. (colloquial) apartment, flat or house in a bad condition; dump
8. (colloquial) boring small town or village

Declension

Declension of Loch [neuter, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	das	Loch	die	Löcher
genitive	eines	des	Loches, Lochs	der	Löcher
dative	einem	dem	Loch, Loche1	den	Löchern
accusative	ein	das	Loch	die	Löcher

¹Now rare, see notes.

Synonyms

• (pit): Grube
• (gap): Lücke
• (dungeon): Kerker; Verlies
• (prison): Gefängnis; Haftanstalt; Justizvollzugsanstalt; Bau; Kittchen; Knast
• (boring town): Kaff

Derived terms

• Arschloch
• Astloch
• Atemloch
• aus dem letzten Loch pfeifen (“to be at the end of one's tether”) (less commonly: auf dem letzten Loch)
• Baggerloch
• Blasloch
• Bohrloch
• Dreckloch
• ein Loch in den Bauch fragen (“to talk someone's head off”)
• Einschussloch
• Erdloch
• Fensterloch
• Guckloch
• Hafenloch
• Hasenloch
• Kellerloch
• Knopfloch
• lochartig
• Lochfraßkorrosion
• Lochkarte
• Luftloch
• Mauseloch
• Mundloch
• Nasenloch
• Poloch
• Schlüsselloch
• Schützenloch
• schwarzes Loch
• Sommerloch
• Strumpfloch
• Türloch
• Wasserloch
• Wurmloch

 

Descendants

• → Czech: loch
• → Dutch: loch
• → Polish: loch

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English loch, from Scottish Gaelic and Irish loch.

Noun

Loch n (strong, genitive Lochs, plural Lochs)

1. loch, lough (a lake or bay in Scotland or Ireland)

Declension

Declension of Loch [neuter, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	das	Loch	die	Lochs
genitive	eines	des	Lochs	der	Lochs
dative	einem	dem	Loch	den	Lochs
accusative	ein	das	Loch	die	Lochs

Further reading

• “Loch” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Loch” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon

Hunsrik

Etymology

From Middle High German loch, from Old High German loh.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lox/

Noun

Loch n (plural Lecher, diminutive Lechelche)

1. hole

Further reading

• Online Hunsrik Dictionary

Pennsylvania German

Etymology

From Middle High German loch, from Old High German loh. Compare German Loch.

Noun

Loch n (plural Lecher)

1. hole
2. rent
3. burrow

Plautdietsch

Etymology

From Middle Low German and Old Saxon lōh, from Proto-West Germanic *lauh.

Noun

Loch n (plural Lajcha)

1. hole