lacrosse
UK[ləˈkrɒs]US[ləˈkrɔːs]
n
A team game, originally played by North American Indians, in which the ball is thrown, carried, and caught with a long-handled stick having a curved L-shaped or triangular frame at one end with a piece of shallow netting.
Etymology
The word 'lacrosse' entered English in the early 18th century from Canadian French, where the game was called 'jeu de la crosse' ("game of the curved stick"). The French term 'crosse' referred to a bishop's crozier or a hooked stick, deriving from Old French 'crosse', meaning "a hooked staff". This Old French term likely has Germanic origins, possibly from a Frankish word related to the concept of a crutch or staff. The name was applied by French missionaries and settlers in North America to the indigenous stick-and-ball game they observed, and the abbreviated form 'lacrosse' was later borrowed into English to denote the modern sport.
Analysis
The word is a loanword from Canadian French and is not productively formed from separable English morphemes. It is treated as a simplex unit.
Examples
He played lacrosse for his university team.
The lacrosse match was postponed due to heavy rain.
She is very skilled at catching and throwing the ball with her lacrosse stick.