leigh

leigh · noun¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*lówkos“field, meadow”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*lauhaz“meadow”
3. Old English · inherited fromlēah“clearing in a forest”
4. Middle English · inherited fromlegh
5. English todayleigh

From Middle English legh, lege, lei (“clearing, open ground”) from Old English lēah (“clearing in a forest”) from Proto-Germanic *lauhaz (“meadow”), from Proto-Indo-European *lówkos (“field, meadow”). Akin to Old Frisian lāch (“meadow”), Old Saxon lōh (“forest, grove”) (Middle Dutch loo (“forest, thicket”); Dutch -lo (suffix forming place names)), Old High German lōh (“covered clearing, low bushes”), Old Norse ló (“clearing, meadow”). More at Waterloo.

Leigh · proper noun²

1. Old English · inherited fromlēah“wood, meadow”
2. English todayLeigh

From the nominative case of Old English lēah (“wood, meadow”), 'dweller by the wood or clearing'.

Words from the same roots