English
leeward
Leeward comes from English lee ‘side away from the wind’, and goes back to Middle English lee.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lee
- English1500–presentsame form‘side away from the wind’
- Englishearliest quotation 1851leeward
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history not traced here.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lee
- English1500–presentsame form‘side away from the wind’
- Englishearliest quotation 1851leeward
Earliest quotation: 1851, Herman Melville, The Whale: “Some hours after midnight, the Typhoon abated so much,…”
A compound of lee ‘side away from the wind’ + -ward ‘direction’
Proto-Germanic *hlaiwaz
Proto-West Germanic *hlaiw ‘shelter’
Old English hlēo ‘shelter’
Middle English lee
English lee
Linked words
through Middle English lee
Today it means
adj On the side sheltered from the wind; in that direction.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English lee / leeward