lark [E19th] Old English laferce developed into Scottish and northern English laverock, and in the Middle Ages was contracted to lark, which became the standard name for this songbird. References to the early-morning singing of the lark date back to the 16th century. People often refer to an early riser as a lark, while a late-to-bed counterpart is an *owl. The phrase up with the lark [L16th], ‘up very early in the morning’, also plays on the word ‘up’, since the lark sings on the wing while flying high above its nest. In to lark about [E19th] or around, and in the sense ‘something done for fun’, lark may be a shortening of skylark [L18th], which was formerly used in the same way, or it may be from dialect lake ‘to play’, from a Scandinavian word.