means a stretch of mown, cultivated grass kept short around a house, garden, or park.

from From Middle English 'launde,' meaning an open glade or woodland clearing, borrowed from Old French 'lande' (heath, moor) — itself likely of Celtic or Germanic root, a cousin of the word that gives us 'land.' The 'd' softened into 'n' over time, and the wild forest clearing was gradually tamed into the trimmed green carpet we obsess over today. (Not to be confused with the other 'lawn,' a fine linen fabric, which comes from Laon, a town in France once famous for it.)