leu
noun
a coin and monetary unit of Romania, equal to 100 bani. L.
leu
1 American
[le-oo]
/ ˈlɛ ʊ /
Also
ley
noun
-
lei
plural
Leu
2
American
abbreviation
Biochemistry.
leu
British
/ ˈleɪuː /
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of leu
First recorded in 1875–80; from Romanian: literally, “lion”; based on Turkish arslanlι ( arslan “lion” + -lι adjective suffix), a name given to the Dutch rijksdaalder, which circulated in the later Ottoman Empire and bore the image of a lion ( see lion ( def. ))
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Romania's currency, the leu, fell to a record low against the euro ahead of Tuesday's vote.
From BBC ● May 5, 2026
The Romanian leu was down 0.1% against the euro on the day.
From Reuters ● Jun. 13, 2023
Otter stated that he had directed the state’s Department of Administration to immediately pay for the entire program through the end of fiscal year 2013-2014 in leu of the withheld federal payments.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 12, 2015
In Sighisoara, young and old lined up in the rain to pay one leu for truly piping-hot covrigi at the sales window of Gigi.
From New York Times ● Jan. 27, 2014
I slipped my watch chain through my waistcoat buttonhole and straightened the fob, a Romanian silver leu whose details were worn to shadows.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
At Leu Leu, the new California restaurant from “Top Chef” alum Claudette Zepeda, the dessert menu reads like a dream.
From Salon ● May 24, 2025
The group absorbs Clariden Leu and merges private banking and asset management into one division.
From Reuters ● Oct. 27, 2022
“To Enriquez,” our reviewer, Chelsea Leu, commented, “there’s pleasure in the perverse.”
From New York Times ● Feb. 18, 2022
I am also writing about my grandmother, Rosa Leu, born in the Swiss Alps, who was for decades nurse-in-charge at the original Kaiser Hospital in Fontana, starting in 1952.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2020
After a short visit which Josephine made to St. Leu, and which she describes as delightful, she returned to Malmaison, and Hortense went to the springs of Aix-la-Chapelle, taking her two children with her.
From Hortense Makers of History Series by John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot) Abbott
If you don’t splurge on an airport lei greeting, pick one up at a local Target.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
Since the crisis erupted, the interest rates at which Romania borrows have risen, and the lei currency has depreciated against the euro, which reached an all-time high of 5.21 Romanian lei on Tuesday.
From Barron's ● May 5, 2026
A white lei hung around her neck as she attempted to balance her champion’s plaque awkwardly in one hand.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2025
In return he promised monthly top-up payments of 5,000 Moldovan lei to pensioners, or about £200.
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2024
I finger the strand, feeling as if the lei has transferred some of its beauty to me.
From "Everything, Everything" by Nicola Yoon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
