lakou

L1A1K5O1U1

noun

In Haiti, a small village or other compound built around a shared yard, or the family structure of those living in such a settlement.

OriginHaitian Creole lakou ← French la →
Scrabble 9
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Meanings

nounlakou (plural lakous)

plural lakous

  1. In Haiti, a small village or other compound built around a shared yard, or the family structure of those living in such a settlement.

    “He promised to bring the president's wife to our lakou.”

    1985, Wade Davis, The Serpent and the Rainbow, Simon & Schuster, page 77
    2 more examples

    Within the lakou, homes consist of wood-framed huts with thatch or corrugated-iron roofs. Furniture is minimal — a few chairs, a table, and some woven mats on which to sleep.

    2000, Emily Wade Will, Haiti, page 61

    A lakou is a community space composed of houses populated by several generations of one family, surrounded by a circular garden.

    2013, Steven Holl, Pamphlet Architecture 31: New Haiti Villages, page 10

Origin

  1. Frenchla
  2. Haitian Creolelakou
  3. Englishlakou

From Haitian Creole lakou, from French la cour (“the courtyard”).

More words from Haitian Creole, French

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

koula
Cite this entry
APA

lakou. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lakou

MLA

“lakou.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lakou. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lakou,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lakou.

Source: lakou on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.