leah

See also: Leah

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /læ͜ɑːx/

Etymology 1

From Proto-West Germanic *lauh, from Proto-Germanic *lauhaz, from Proto-Indo-European *lówkos (“clearing”), derived from *lewk- (“bright”).

The use of the word meaning "meadow" is a later development of the word, possibly aided by confusion between lēas (plural of the original meaning of lēah) with lǣs.

Noun

lēah m (nominative plural lēas)

1. clearing
2. meadow

Declension

Strong a-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	lēah	lēas
accusative	lēah	lēas
genitive	lēas	lēana
dative	lēa	lēam, lēaum

Occasionally feminine:

Strong ō-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	lēah	lēa
accusative	lēa	lēa
genitive	lēa	lēana
dative	lēa	lēam, lēaum

Descendants

• Middle English: leye, ley, legh, lege, liegh
  • English: leigh, lea
  • Scots: le, ley, lei
  • ⇒? Yola: kotlieough, cotleough

Etymology 2

From Proto-West Germanic *laugu.

Noun

lēah f

1. alternative form of lēag

Declension

Strong ō-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	lēah	lēaga, lēage
accusative	lēage	lēaga, lēage
genitive	lēage	lēaga
dative	lēage	lēagum

References

• Mills, David (1976) “Directory of Place Names”, in The Place Names of Lancashire, London: Batsford Books, →ISBN

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Ukrainian лях (ljax), from Old Ruthenian лѧхъ (ljax), from Old East Slavic лѧхъ (lęxŭ), from Proto-Slavic *lęxъ, from Proto-Slavic *lęděninъ (“dweller of wasteland”).

Noun

leah m (plural leși)

1. (dated) Pole, Polack

Declension

Declension of leah

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	leah	leahul		leși	leșii
genitive-dative	leah	leahului		leși	leșilor
vocative	leahule			leșilor

Further reading

• “leah”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2025