Etymologically
Log in

lee

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 20:10. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English le, earlier leohe,[2][3] inherited from Old English hlēo (“shelter, cover, protection”),[3][2][4] from Proto-Germanic *hlewaz,[3][5] which is also the source of Old Saxon hleo, Old Frisian hli, Dutch lij “lee side”, Old Norse hlé and Danish læ.[3][2] Its original sense is uncertain; it may have been “warm”, compare German lau “tepid” and Old Norse hlý “warmth”,[3][2] and Watkins traces it to Proto-Indo-European *kle-wo-, a variant of Proto-Indo-European *kele- (“warm”),[3] which Barnhart links to Latin calēre “to be hot”.[2] Hoad says it is not known outside Germanic.[4] The nautical sense came mainly from Old Norse.[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Protection, shelter: before 725 in Barnhart,[2] and before 900 in the OED, in phrases such as in the lee of.[6]

Semantic evolution

The nautical sense, the side of a ship or of anything that is away from the wind, is from about 1400[3][6] and of Scandinavian origin,[3] from the idea of the side opposite the wind as the sheltered side.[3] The adjective is from the 1510s.[3] leeward, “on the side turned away from the wind”, is from the 16th century.[4] A sheltered condition, and so calmness or peace, is a chiefly Scottish sense.[6] Middle English also had lewth “warmth, shelter”, from Old English hleowþ.[3]

Timeline

  • before 725 – shelter.[2]
  • c. 1200 – Middle English leohe.[2]
  • c. 1400 – the side away from the wind.[3][6]
  • 1510s – adjective.[3]
  • 16th century – leeward.[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The side sheltered from the wind, especially of a ship.
  2. Cover; shelter.

Adjective

  1. On or towards the side away from the wind: a lee shore.

Word family

  • leeboard
  • alee
  • leeward
  • leeway
  • lee gauge
  • lee shore

Usage notes

The lees of wine, from Old French lie, is a separate word, used in the singular in Middle English from 1390.[6][4]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press