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Origin and history of lea

lea(n.)

Old English leah "open field, meadow, piece of untilled grassy ground," earlier læch, preserved in place names, from Proto-Germanic *lauhaz (source also of Old High German loh "clearing," and probably also Flemish -loo, which forms the second element in Waterloo), from PIE *louko- "light place" (source also of Sanskrit lokah "open space, free space, world," Latin lucus "grove, sacred grove, wood," Lithuanian laukas "open field, land"), from root *leuk- "to shine, be bright." The dative form is the source of many of the English surnames Lee, Leigh.

Entries linking to lea

Waterloo(n.)

village near Brussels; the great battle there took place June 18, 1815; extended sense of "a final, crushing defeat" is attested by Dec. 5, 1816 in letter of Lord Byron. The name is roughly "watery clearing;" the second element is from Flemish loo "forest clearing, sacred wood" (see lea (n.)).

Ashley

fem. proper name, all but unknown before c. 1965; one of the most popular names for girls born in U.S. from c. 1980; evidently inspired by the surname Ashley, Ashleigh (attested from 12c.), which means "clearing among the ash trees," from Old English æsc (see ash (n.2)) + leah (see lea).

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Trends of lea

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to explore

pasture
c. 1300, "land covered with vegetation suitable for grazing;" also "grass eaten by cattle or other animals," from Old French pasture "fodder, grass eaten by cattle" (12c., Modern French pâture), from Late Latin pastura "a feeding, grazing," from Latin pastus, past participle of p
lion
Old English had the word straight from Latin as leo (Anglian lea)....
country
mid-13c., "(one's) native land;" c. 1300, "any geographic area," sometimes with implications of political organization, from Old French contree, cuntrede "region, district, country," from Vulgar Latin *(terra) contrata "(land) lying opposite," or "(land) spread before one," in Me
cape
"sleeveless cloak, circular covering for the shoulders," a Spanish style, late 16c., from French cape, from Spanish capa, from Late Latin cappa "hooded cloak" (see cap (n.), which is a doublet). Late Old English had capa, cæppe "cloak with a hood," directly from Latin...."promont
pace
late 13c., "a step in walking," also "rate of motion; the space traveled by the foot in one completed movement in walking," from Old French pas "a step, pace, trace," and directly from Latin passus, passum "a step, pace, stride," noun use of past participle of pandere "to stretch
commons
mid-14c., "the people collectively," especially "the common people as distinguished from the rulers and nobility and the clergy; the freemen of England as represented in Parliament" (late 14c.), from common (n.). Meaning "the lower house of Parliament, consisting of commoner
lye
Old English læg, leag "lye, water impregnated with alkaline salt absorbed from the ashes of wood by leaching," from Proto-Germanic *laugo (source also of Middle Dutch loghe, Dutch loog, Old High German louga, German Lauge "lye"), from PIE root *leue- "to wash." The substance form
yard
"patch of ground around a house," Old English geard "fenced enclosure, garden, court; residence, house," from Proto-Germanic *gardan- (source also of Old Norse garðr "enclosure, garden, yard;" Old Frisian garda, Dutch gaard, Old High German garto, German Garten "garden;" Gothic g
dray
late-14c., draie, "strong wheeled or wheel-less cart," from Old English dræge or some other noun derivative from dragan "to draw" and originally meaning a cart without wheels that has to be "dragged" (compare Old Norse draga "timber dragged behind a horse;" Middle Low German drag
land
Old English lond, land, "ground, soil," also "definite portion of the earth's surface, home region of a person or a people, territory marked by political boundaries," from Proto-Germanic *landja- (source also of Old Norse, Old Frisian Dutch, Gothic land, German Land), perhaps fro

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