Meaning

noun a narrow thin strip of wood used as backing for plaster or to make latticework

originFrom Middle English laththe, laþþe, earlier lathe, laþe, altered from Old English lætt (“lath”), from Proto-West Germanic *lattu, from Proto-Germanic *laþô (compare Dutch lat, German Latte) from Proto-Indo-European *(s)lat- (compare Welsh llath (“rod, wand, yard”)).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0