Lee

See also: Appendix:Variations of "lee"

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /liː/
• Rhymes: -iː
• Homophones: lea, leigh, Leigh, li

Etymology 1

From Middle English [Term?].

Alternative forms

• Lea
• Leigh

Proper noun

Lee (countable and uncountable, plural Lees)

1. An English topographic surname from Middle English for someone who lived near a meadow (the Anglo-Saxon for meadow being ley or leag).
2. A unisex given name
   1. A male given name derived from the surname, masculine of Leigh
   2. A female given name popular in conjoined names such as Lee Ann or Mary Lee.
      • 2016, Ruth Ware, In a Dark, Dark Wood, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 21:

        “Nora?” She frowned, puzzled.
        “My name's Leonora,” I said. “At school I was Lee, but now I prefer Nora. I did mention it in the e-mail.”
        I'd always hated being Lee. It was a boy's name, a name that lent itself to teasing and rhyme.

3. A placename, for example:
   1. A number of places in England:
      1. A neighbourhood near the village of Berrynarbor, North Devon district, Devon (OS grid ref SS5546).
      2. A small village in Ilfracombe parish, North Devon district, Devon (OS grid ref SS4846).
      3. A suburb in the borough of Lewisham, Greater London.
      4. A village in Buckinghamshire, commonly known as The Lee.
      5. Alternative spelling of Lea, the River Lea in eastern England.
   2. A river in County Cork, Ireland.
   3. A number of places in the United States:
      1. A former settlement in Inyo County, California.
      2. A town in Madison County, Florida.
      3. A village in DeKalb County and Lee County, Illinois.
      4. An unincorporated community in Monon Township, White County, Indiana.
      5. A town in Penobscot County, Maine.
      6. A town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts.
      7. An unincorporated community in Elko County, Nevada.
      8. A town in Strafford County, New Hampshire.
      9. A town and village in Oneida County, New York.
      10. A number of townships in the United States, listed under Lee Township.

Derived terms

• Fort Lee
• Lee County
• Lee-Enfield
• Lee-Kesler method
• Lees
• Leeson
• Leeton
• Robert Lee (Texas)

 

Etymology 2

From Chinese:

• Mandarin: 李 (Lǐ), and other less common surnames such as 黎 (Lí).
• Cantonese: 李 (lei5), and other less common surnames such as 利 (lei6).
• Hokkien: 李 (Lí), Teochew: 李 (li2).
• Hakka: 李 (Lí).

Alternative forms

• Li, Le, Ly

Proper noun

Lee (plural Lees)

1. A surname from Chinese.

Derived terms

• Lee Garden Hill

 

Etymology 3

Transcription of Korean 리(李) (Ri), 리(理) (Ri).

Alternative forms

• Rhee, Ree

Proper noun

Lee (plural Lees)

1. A surname from Korean; Alternative form of Rhee (Hanja: 李; Hangul: 이 & 리)

Etymology 4

A diminutive

Proper noun

Lee (plural Lees)

1. A male given name
   1. A nickname for various given names with the first syllable as Lee; Clipping of Leo, Leroy.

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Lee is the 21^st most common surname in the United States, belonging to 702,625 individuals. Lee is most common among Asian/Pacific Islander (42.4%), White (36.0%) and Black/African American (16.3%) individuals.

See also

• Lea
• Leah
• Leh
• Lei
• Leigh
• Ley
• Li
• Ly

Anagrams

• ELE, eel

German

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle Low German lē, from Old Saxon hlēo. Cognate with Dutch lij, English lee.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /leː/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

Lee f (genitive Lee, no plural)

1. leeward side of a ship (the side away from the wind direction)

   Antonym: Luv

   tosende See an Luv und Lee ― raging sea on the windward and leeward sides

Declension

Declension of Lee [sg-only, feminine]

	singular
	indef.	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Lee
genitive	einer	der	Lee
dative	einer	der	Lee
accusative	eine	die	Lee

Related terms

• leewärts
• Leeseite

See also

• Bug
• Heck

Further reading

• “Lee” in Duden online
• “Lee” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Hungarian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈliː]
• Hyphenation: Lee

Proper noun

Lee

1. Lee

Declension

Inflection of Lee
	singular	plural
nominative	Lee	Leek
accusative	Leet	Leeket
dative	Leenek	Leeknek
instrumental	Leevel	Leekkel
causal-final	Leeért	Leekért
translative	Leevé	Leekké
terminative	Leeig	Leekig
essive-formal	Leeként	Leekként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	Leeben	Leekben
superessive	Leen	Leeken
adessive	Leenél	Leeknél
illative	Leebe	Leekbe
sublative	Leere	Leekre
allative	Leehez	Leekhez
elative	Leeből	Leekből
delative	Leeről	Leekről
ablative	Leetől	Leektől
non-attributive possessive - singular	Leeé	Leeké
non-attributive possessive - plural	Leeéi	Leekéi

Possessive forms of Lee
possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	Leem	Leeim
2nd person sing.	Leed	Leeid
3rd person sing.	Leeje	Leei
1st person plural	Leenk	Leeink
2nd person plural	Leetek	Leeitek
3rd person plural	Leejük	Leeik

Luxembourgish

Etymology

From Middle High German leie. Cognate with German Lei, Dutch lei.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /leː/
• Rhymes: -eː

Noun

Lee f (plural Leeën)

1. (countable) slate, plate of slate (for roofing or writing)
2. (uncountable, dated) slate as a material

   Synonym: Schifer

Derived terms

• Leeëndecker

Tagalog

Alternative forms

• Dy, Dee, Li

Etymology

• (Chinese surname): From Hokkien 李 (Lí) & Cantonese 李 (Lei⁵), via English Lee.
• (Korean surname): From Korean 리(李) (Ri), via English Lee.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈli/, [ˈli]

Proper noun

Lee (Baybayin spelling ᜎᜒ)

1. a Chinese Filipino surname from Hokkien
2. a Chinese Filipino surname from Cantonese
3. a surname from Korean, most notably borne by:

   Grace Lee, film distributor, businesswoman, former tv host and former radio DJ.

Statistics

• According to data collected by Forebears in 2014, Lee is the 309^th most common surname in the Philippines, occurring in 25,098 individuals.

See also

• See
• Tee
• Wee
• Yee