Large bodies of water completely surrounded by land. Plural of lake.
From Latin 'lacus' meaning 'pond, pool, lake'. The word entered English via Old French 'lac'. Related to Greek 'lakkos' (pond, cistern). The meaning has remained remarkably stable across languages and centuries.
Lakes are among the most linguistically stable geographical features - the word has barely changed since Latin times. Unlike rivers that flow and change course, lakes' static nature seems to have preserved their name across millennia of language evolution.
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