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Added 9 October 2026

leek

/liːk/ noun

Categories: PlantsFood & DrinkRare Words

In Latin: porrum, ulpicum Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about leek at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

  1. A vegetable of variety Allium ampeloprasum, having edible leaves and an onion-like bulb but with a milder flavour than the onion.
  2. Any of several species of Allium, broadly resembling the domesticated plant in appearance in the wild.

Origin

From Middle English leek, leeke, lek, leke, leyke, from Old English lēac, lēc (“allium; garlic or leek”), from Proto-West Germanic *lauk, from Proto-Germanic *laukaz (“leek”), from *leukaną, *lūkaną (“to close, shut”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewg- (“to bend”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

Related Words: scallionrummyonionalliumshallotramp

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