lascar

English

Three lascars.

Alternative forms

• Lascar, lashkar, laskar

Etymology

From Hindustani لشکر / लश्कर (laśkar), from Persian لشکر (laškar). Doublet of askari.

Noun

lascar (plural lascars)

1. (now chiefly historical) A sailor from India or Southeast Asia, especially as serving on a European ship.
   • 1919, W. Somerset Maugham, “chapter 47”, in The Moon and Sixpence:

     A motley crowd saunters along the streets — Lascars off a P. and O., blond Northmen from a Swedish barque, Japanese from a man-of-war, English sailors, Spaniards, pleasant-looking fellows from a French cruiser, negroes off an American tramp.

   • 1973, Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow:

     ...and what foreigner is it, exactly, that Pirate has in mind if it isn't that stateless lascar across his own mirror-glass, that poorest of exiles...

   • 2020, Sujit Sivasundaram, Waves Across the South, William Collins, published 2021, page 35:

     As for the voyage itself, his account of Mauritius, where the ship stopped, saw the appearance of Muslim lascars.

2. (Anglo-Indian) A tent-pitcher; also a type of artilleryman.
3. Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the Asian genera Pantoporia and Lasippa.

Anagrams

• Claars, Rascal, craals, rascal, sacral, sarlac, scalar

French

Etymology

From Hindustani لشکر / लश्कर (laśkar), itself from Persian لشکر.

Originally a nickname given in the early 19th century to Indian seamen on French ships travelling in the East Indies. With time, the term became somewhat pejorative.

Noun

lascar m (plural lascars)

1. lascar
2. (somewhat derogatory) dude, guy

Further reading

• “lascar”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Portuguese

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /lasˈka(ʁ)/ [lasˈka(h)]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /lasˈka(ʁ)/ [lasˈka(h)]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /lasˈka(ɾ)/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /laʃˈka(ʁ)/ [laʃˈka(χ)]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /lasˈka(ɻ)/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /lɐʃˈkaɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /lɐʃˈkaɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /lɐʃˈka.ɾi/

• Hyphenation: las‧car

Verb

lascar (first-person singular present lasco, first-person singular preterite lasquei, past participle lascado)

1. to chip

Conjugation

    Conjugation of lascar (c-qu alternation) (See Appendix:Portuguese verbs)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (tu)	Third-person (ele / ela / você)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal	lascar
Personal	lascar	lascares	lascar	lascarmos	lascardes	lascarem
Gerund
	lascando
Past participle
Masculine	lascado			lascados
Feminine	lascada			lascadas
Indicative
Present	lasco	lascas	lasca	lascamos	lascais	lascam
Imperfect	lascava	lascavas	lascava	lascávamos	lascáveis	lascavam
Preterite	lasquei	lascaste	lascou	lascamos1, lascámos2	lascastes	lascaram
Pluperfect	lascara	lascaras	lascara	lascáramos	lascáreis	lascaram
Future	lascarei	lascarás	lascará	lascaremos	lascareis	lascarão
Conditional	lascaria	lascarias	lascaria	lascaríamos	lascaríeis	lascariam
Subjunctive
Present	lasque	lasques	lasque	lasquemos	lasqueis	lasquem
Imperfect	lascasse	lascasses	lascasse	lascássemos	lascásseis	lascassem
Future	lascar	lascares	lascar	lascarmos	lascardes	lascarem
Imperative
Affirmative		lasca	lasque	lasquemos	lascai	lasquem
Negative (não)		não lasques	não lasque	não lasquemos	não lasqueis	não lasquem

¹Brazilian Portuguese.
²European Portuguese.

Spanish

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lasˈkaɾ/ [lasˈkaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: las‧car

Verb

lascar (first-person singular present lasco, first-person singular preterite lasqué, past participle lascado)

1. (nautical, transitive) to slacken; slip

Conjugation

    Conjugation of lascar (c-qu alternation) (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			lascar
gerund			lascando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		lascado		lascada
		plural		lascados		lascadas
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	lasco	lascastú lascásvos	lasca	lascamos	lascáis	lascan
	imperfect	lascaba	lascabas	lascaba	lascábamos	lascabais	lascaban
	preterite	lasqué	lascaste	lascó	lascamos	lascasteis	lascaron
	future	lascaré	lascarás	lascará	lascaremos	lascaréis	lascarán
	conditional	lascaría	lascarías	lascaría	lascaríamos	lascaríais	lascarían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	lasque	lasquestú lasquésvos2	lasque	lasquemos	lasquéis	lasquen
	imperfect (ra)	lascara	lascaras	lascara	lascáramos	lascarais	lascaran
	imperfect (se)	lascase	lascases	lascase	lascásemos	lascaseis	lascasen
	future1	lascare	lascares	lascare	lascáremos	lascareis	lascaren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		lascatú lascávos	lasque	lasquemos	lascad	lasquen
	negative		no lasques	no lasque	no lasquemos	no lasquéis	no lasquen

¹Mostly obsolete, now mainly used in legal language.
²Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tú form for the present subjunctive.

    Selected combined forms of lascar (c-qu alternation)

These forms are generated automatically and may not actually be used. Pronoun usage varies by region.

		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
with infinitive lascar	dative	lascarme	lascarte	lascarle, lascarse	lascarnos	lascaros	lascarles, lascarse
	accusative	lascarme	lascarte	lascarlo, lascarla, lascarse	lascarnos	lascaros	lascarlos, lascarlas, lascarse
with gerund lascando	dative	lascándome	lascándote	lascándole, lascándose	lascándonos	lascándoos	lascándoles, lascándose
	accusative	lascándome	lascándote	lascándolo, lascándola, lascándose	lascándonos	lascándoos	lascándolos, lascándolas, lascándose
with informal second-person singular tú imperative lasca	dative	láscame	láscate	láscale	láscanos	not used	láscales
	accusative	láscame	láscate	láscalo, láscala	láscanos	not used	láscalos, láscalas
with informal second-person singular vos imperative lascá	dative	lascame	lascate	lascale	lascanos	not used	lascales
	accusative	lascame	lascate	lascalo, lascala	lascanos	not used	lascalos, lascalas
with formal second-person singular imperative lasque	dative	lásqueme	not used	lásquele, lásquese	lásquenos	not used	lásqueles
	accusative	lásqueme	not used	lásquelo, lásquela, lásquese	lásquenos	not used	lásquelos, lásquelas
with first-person plural imperative lasquemos	dative	not used	lasquémoste	lasquémosle	lasquémonos	lasquémoos	lasquémosles
	accusative	not used	lasquémoste	lasquémoslo, lasquémosla	lasquémonos	lasquémoos	lasquémoslos, lasquémoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative lascad	dative	lascadme	not used	lascadle	lascadnos	lascaos	lascadles
	accusative	lascadme	not used	lascadlo, lascadla	lascadnos	lascaos	lascadlos, lascadlas
with formal second-person plural imperative lasquen	dative	lásquenme	not used	lásquenle	lásquennos	not used	lásquenles, lásquense
	accusative	lásquenme	not used	lásquenlo, lásquenla	lásquennos	not used	lásquenlos, lásquenlas, lásquense

Further reading

• “lascar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10