Meanings
comparative more leeward · superlative most leeward · superlative leewardmost
- On the side sheltered from the wind; in that direction.
Synonyms: downwind
comparative more leeward · superlative most leeward
- Away from the direction from which the wind is blowing; downwind.
No lady goat is safe from criminal assault, even on the Sabbath Day, when there is a genteman goat within three miles to leeward of her and nothing in the way but a fence fourteen feet high[…]
ca. 1909, Mark Twain, ;;Letters from the Earth Letter VIII1 more example
Some hours after midnight, the Typhoon abated so much, that through the strenuous exertions of Starbuck and Stubb—one engaged forward and the other aft—the shivered remnants of the jib and fore and main-top-sails were cut adrift from the spars, and went eddying away to leeward, like the feathers of an albatross, which sometimes are cast to the winds when that storm-tossed bird is on the wing.
1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 23, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveOn the side sheltered from the wind; in that direction.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishlee
- Englishlee
- Proto-Indo-European*wert-
- Proto-Germanic*wardaz
- Englishleeward
From lee (“side away from the wind”) + -ward (“direction”).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan sotavent
- sotaventon the side sheltered from the wind
Chinese Mandarin 背風 /背风, 下風 /下风
- 背風 /背风 (bèifēng)on the side sheltered from the wind
- 下風 /下风 (xiàfēng)on the side sheltered from the wind
Czech závětrný
- závětrnýon the side sheltered from the wind
Dutch benedenwinds, lijzijde
- benedenwindson the side sheltered from the wind
- lijzijdeon the side sheltered from the wind
- lijwaartson the side sheltered from the wind
- benedenwindsaway from the direction of the wind
- lijzijdsaway from the direction of the wind
- lijwaartsaway from the direction of the wind
Finnish suojanpuoleinen, leenpuoleinen
- suojanpuoleinenon the side sheltered from the wind
- leenpuoleinenon the side sheltered from the wind
- alatuuleenaway from the direction of the wind
French sous le vent
- sous le venton the side sheltered from the wind
German leewärts gelegen, windabwärts gelegen
- leewärts gelegenon the side sheltered from the wind
- windabwärts gelegenon the side sheltered from the wind
- windabgewandt gelegenon the side sheltered from the wind
- mit dem Wind gelegenon the side sheltered from the wind
- unter dem Winde gelegenon the side sheltered from the wind
- leewärtsaway from the direction of the wind
- windabwärtsaway from the direction of the wind
- windabgewandtaway from the direction of the wind
- mit dem Windaway from the direction of the wind
- unter dem Windeaway from the direction of the wind
Greek υπήνεμος, υπηνέμως
- υπήνεμος (ypínemos)on the side sheltered from the wind
- υπηνέμως (ypinémos)away from the direction of the wind
- υπήνεμα (ypínema)away from the direction of the wind
- απάνεμα (apánema)away from the direction of the wind
Italian sottovento, sottovento
- sottoventoon the side sheltered from the wind
- sottoventoaway from the direction of the wind
Lithuanian pavė̃jinis
- pavė̃jinison the side sheltered from the wind
Polish zawietrzny
- zawietrznyon the side sheltered from the wind
Portuguese sotavento
- sotaventoon the side sheltered from the wind
Russian подве́тренный, по ветру
- подве́тренный (podvétrennyj)on the side sheltered from the wind
- по ветру (po vetru)away from the direction of the wind
Slovak záveterný
- záveternýon the side sheltered from the wind
Spanish de sotavento, a sotavento
- de sotaventoon the side sheltered from the wind
- a sotaventoaway from the direction of the wind
Swedish lä
- läon the side sheltered from the wind
Turkish rüzgâraltı
- rüzgâraltıon the side sheltered from the wind
Ukrainian підві́тряний, за ві́тром
- підві́тряний (pidvítrjanyj)on the side sheltered from the wind
- за ві́тром (za vítrom)away from the direction of the wind
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with leeward
All rhymes →Cite this entry
leeward. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/leeward
“leeward.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/leeward. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “leeward,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/leeward.
Source: leeward on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.