lea

[lee, ley]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR lea ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a tract of open ground, especially grassland; meadow.

land used for a few years for pasture or for growing hay, then plowed over and replaced by another crop.

a crop of hay on tillable land.

adjective

untilled; fallow.

Also ley.

Origin of lea

before 900; Middle English lege, lei, Old English lēah; cognate with Old High German lōh, dialectal Dutch loo (as in Waterloo), Latin lūcus

lea

[lee]

noun

a measure of yarn of varying quantity, for wool usually 80 yards (73 meters), cotton and silk 120 yards (110 meters), linen 300 yards (274 meters).

Textiles.

a unit length used to ascertain the linear density of yarns.
a count or number representing units of linear measure per pound in linen or cotton yarn: a 20-lea yarn.

Origin of lea

1350–1400; perhaps back formation from Middle English lese, variant of leash

Lea

[lee for 1; lee-uh for 2]

noun

Homer,1876–1912, U.S. soldier and author: adviser 1911–12 to Sun Yat-sen in China.

a female given name, form of Leah or Lee.

lea.

league.

leather.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for lea

grassland, pasture, prairie, plain, grass, meadow, grazing, territory, terrain, range, green, ground, garden, farmland, rug, steppe, carpet, lea, pasturage, heath

Examples from the Web for lea

Contemporary Examples of lea

Glee actress Lea Michele was seemingly dissed by Jessica Lange on the red carpet.
Why Does Everyone Hate Lea Michele?
Tim Teeman
October 9, 2014
And so the problem seems to be that Lea Michele and Anne Hathaway are too good.
Why Does Everyone Hate Lea Michele?
Tim Teeman
October 9, 2014
Reportedly, he wants to star Lea Michele in a production based on another ex-Streisand vehicle, Funny Girl.
‘The Normal Heart’ and Hope in the Battlefield of AIDS
Michael Musto
May 24, 2014
Actresses, mainly: Julianne Hough, Katharine McPhee, Lea Michele.
How 'Billy on the Street' Star Billy Eichner Turned Screaming at Strangers Into Comedy Gold
Kevin Fallon
March 12, 2014
She talks to Lea Carpenter about why fiction can tell this story so powerfully.
Susan Minot on Africa, Joseph Kony, and the Limits of Writing About Love
Lea Carpenter
February 10, 2014

Historical Examples of lea

I went to Cincinnati, where I found orders to wait for Mr. Lea.
Memoirs
Charles Godfrey Leland
Mr. Lea thought it might be worth some expense to investigate this Tennessee oil.
Memoirs
Charles Godfrey Leland
But at last Mr. Lea came with a party of ladies and gentlemen.
Memoirs
Charles Godfrey Leland
Hast thou heard the thrush, full-throated, call his mate across the lea?
Sir Ludar
Talbot Baines Reed
The head went flying over the lea, but it had no more words to speak.
Epic and Romance
W. P. Ker

British Dictionary definitions for lea

lea

noun

poetic a meadow or field

land that has been sown with grass seed

Word Origin for lea

Old English lēah; related to German dialect loh thicket

lea

noun

a unit for measuring lengths of yarn, usually taken as 80 yards for wool, 120 yards for cotton and silk, and 300 yards for linen

a measure of yarn expressed as the length per unit weight, usually the number of leas per pound

Word Origin for lea

C14: of uncertain origin

LEA

abbreviation for (in Britain)

Local Education Authority

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for lea

Old English leah "open field, meadow, piece of untilled ground," earlier læch, recorded in place names, from Proto-Germanic *laukhaz (cf. Old High German loh "cluster of bushes," and probably also Flemish -loo, which forms the second element in Waterloo), from PIE *louquo- (cf. Sanskrit lokah "open space," Latin lucus "grove," Lithuanian laukas "open field"), perhaps from or related to *leuk- "to shine, be bright" (see light (n.)).