ley1
[ley, lee]
- lea1.
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ley2
[ley]
- leu.
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ley3
[ley]
- a pewter containing about 80 percent tin and 20 percent lead.
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Origin of ley3
aphetic variant of obsolete aley alloy
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for ley
Historical Examples
Worms may be destroyed by an infusion of walnut-tree leaves, or by pouring into the holes a ley made of wood ashes and lime.
If not boiled enough, on cooling, it will turn to ley and sediment.
A Treatise on Domestic EconomyCatherine Esther Beecher
“You said that another man was a witness of this affair,” said the captain, turning to Ley.
Will WeatherhelmW.H.G. Kingston
Thursley is Thor's ley or field, and has memories of the Danes.
Highways and Byways in SurreyEric Parker
Pasturage is still called a "ley" for cattle in these parts.
ley
- arable land put down to grass; grassland or pastureland
- Also called: ley line a line joining two prominent points in the landscape, thought to be the line of a prehistoric track
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Word Origin
C14: variant of lea 1
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 ley
n.
"line of a prehistoric track; alignment of natural and artificial features," 1922 [Alfred Watkins], apparently a variant of lea. Popular topic in Britain in 1920s and 30s and again in 1960s-70s.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper