# leek
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English leke, leek, lek, from Old English lēac (“a garden herb, leek, onion, garlic”), from Proto-West Germanic *lauk, from Proto-Germanic *lauką *laukaz (“leek, onion”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewg- (“to bend”).
Cognate with Dutch look (“garlic, leek”), German Low German Look (“leek”), German Lauch (“leek, allium”), Danish løg (“onion”), Swedish lök (“onion”), Icelandic laukur (“onion, leek, garlic”). See garlic.

### Pronunciation

* enPR: lēk, IPA: /liːk/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Homophone: leak
* Rhymes: -iːk

### Noun

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

#### Synonyms

* (Allium ampeloprasum): broadleaf wild leek, the Cambrian symbol (literary), garden leek, scallion (US, Scotland)

#### Derived terms

* Asian leek (Allium fistulosum)
* broadleaf wild leek (Allium ampeloprasum, Allium atroviolaceum)
* eat the leek
* garden leek (Allium ampeloprasum, syn. Allium porrum)
* green leek
* houseleek (Sempervivum)
* leek-green
* leek moth (Acrolepiopsis assectella)
* leek orchid (Prasophyllum spp.)
* leek rust (Puccinia allii)
* lily leek (Allium moly)
* meadow leek
* narrowleaf wild leek (Allium tricoccum var. burdickii)
* Persian leek (Allium ampeloprasum cultivar)
* rose leek
* sand leek (Allium scorodoprasum)
* swallow the leek
* threecorner leek (Allium triquetrum)
* wild leek

#### Descendants

* → Maori: riki

#### Translations

Abkhaz: апрасқьиа (apʼraskja)
Afrikaans: prei
Albanian: preshi, presh (sq)
Arabic: كُرَّاث (kurrāṯ)
Egyptian Arabic: كرات m pl (kurāt)
Hijazi Arabic: كُرَّاث m pl (kurrāt)
North Levantine Arabic: بَراصِيا
Armenian: պրաս (hy) (pras)
Middle Armenian: քուռաթ (kʻuṙatʻ)
Old Armenian: պրաս (pras)
Aromanian: prash n
Asturian: puerru (ast) m
Basque: porru (eu)
Bats: პრას (ṗras)
Bulgarian: праз m (praz)
Catalan: porro (ca) m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 韭蔥 / 韭葱 (zh) (jiǔcōng)
Classical Nahuatl: huēyi caxtīllān xonacatl
Czech: pórek m, pór zahradní m
Danish: porre c
Daur: sors
Dutch: prei (nl) m, porrei m
Egyptian: (jꜣqt f)
Esperanto: poreo
Estonian: porrulauk (Allium porrum), lauk (et) (hypernym)
Ewe: agumetaku n
Faroese: purra f
Finnish: purjo (fi), purjosipuli (fi)
French: poireau (fr) m, porrée f, porreau (fr) m, poirée (fr) f, poirette (fr) f, asperge du pauvre (fr) f
Galician: porro (gl) m, allo porro (gl) m
Georgian: პრასი (ṗrasi), პრასა (ṗrasa)
German: Porree (de) m, Lauch (de) m, Breitlauch m, Winterlauch m
Greek: πράσο (el) n (práso)
Ancient: πράσον n (práson)
Haitian Creole: powo
Hawaiian: leka
Hebrew: כרישה (he)
Hindi: गंदना (hi) (gandnā)
Hungarian: póréhagyma (hu), póré (hu)
Icelandic: blaðlaukur (is) m, púrra (is) f, púrrulaukur m
Ido: porelo (io)
Indonesian: prei (id)
Irish: cainneann f
Old Irish: cainnenn f
Italian: porro (it) m
Japanese: 葱 (ja) (ねぎ, negi)
Khmer: ខ្ទឹមស្លឹក (km) (ktɨm slǝk), ស្លឹកខ្ទឹម (slǝk ktɨm)
Korean: 파 (ko) (pa)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: کەوەری فەرەنگی (kewerî ferengî)
Northern Kurdish: qurad (ku), kurat (ku)
Ladino: prasa, puerro
Latin: porrum n, ulpicum n
Latvian: puravs
Laz: პრასკჲა (p̌rasǩya)
Low German: Porree m
Luxembourgish: Porrett f
Macedonian: праз (mk) m (praz)
Maltese: kurrata f
Maori: riki
Middle English: lek
Mongolian: жууцай (mn) (žuucaj)
Norman: pouothé m
Norwegian: purre, purreløk
Occitan: pòrre (oc) m
Ojibwe: zhigaagawanzh
Old Church Slavonic: прасъ (prasŭ), празъ (prazŭ)
Old English: lēac n
Ottoman Turkish: پراصه (prasa)
Papiamentu: siboyo largu
Persian: تره‌فرنگی (tare-farangi)
Plautdietsch: Luak f
Polish: por (pl) m
Portuguese: porro (pt) m, alho-porro (pt) m, alho-poró (pt) m (Brazil), alho-francês m
Proto-Norse: ᛚᚨᚢᚲᚨᛉ m (laukaʀ)
Romanian: praz (ro) m
Russian: лук-поре́й (ru) m (luk-poréj), поре́й (ru) m (poréj)
Scottish Gaelic: creamh-gàrraidh m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: пoрилук m, празилук m, праса f
Roman: poriluk (sh) m, praziluk (sh) m, prasa (sh) f
Slovak: pór m
Slovene: por (sl) m, pôr (sl)
Spanish: puerro m, porro (es) m, poro (es) m
Swedish: purjolök (sv) c
Tagalog: kutsay (Allium tuberosum)
Thai: กระเทียมต้น (grà tiam dtôn)
Tibetan: སྙུག་ཚོང (snyug tshong)
Turkish: pırasa (tr)
Ukrainian: цибуля-поре́й f (cybulja-poréj), поре́й m (poréj)
Urdu: کراث (kurrās)
Vietnamese: tỏi tây (vi)
Walloon: porete (wa) f, porea (wa) m, poret m
Welsh: cenhinen f
Yiddish: פּאָרע־ציבעלע (pore-tsibele) :

### See also

* garlic
* leak
* Thrips tabaci

### Further reading

* leek on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
* Allium ampeloprasum on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
* leek at USDA Plants database

### Anagrams

* Kele, elke, keel, lekë

## Dutch
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /leːk/
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: leek
* Rhymes: -eːk
* Homophone: Leek

### Etymology 1

From Latin lāicus (“layman, laic”), from Ancient Greek λαϊκός (laïkós, “of the people”), from λαός (laós, “the people”).

#### Noun

leek m (plural leken, diminutive leekje n)
* layman, non-clergyman
    In de middeleeuwen was er een duidelijk verschil tussen geestelijken en leken. ― In the Middle Ages, there was a clear distinction between clergy and laymen.
    Hij is een leek in kerkelijke zaken. ― He is a layman in ecclesiastical matters.
    Het kleine leekje in de kerk was erg nieuwsgierig. ― The young layman in the church was very curious.
* layman, non-expert, amateur
    Als leek op dit gebied, kan ik je niet veel advies geven. ― As a layman in this field, I can't give you much advice.
    Veel leken vinden het moeilijk om dit te begrijpen. ― Many amateurs find it difficult to understand this.
    Het leekje probeerde zijn best te doen, ondanks zijn gebrek aan ervaring. ― The young amateur tried his best, despite his lack of experience.

##### Antonyms

* clericus, geestelijke
* deskundige, expert, professional

##### Derived terms

* lekenapostolaat
* lekenpersoneel
* lekenrechter
* lekenstand

#### Adjective

leek (comparative leker, superlative leekst)
* (obsolete) lay, worldly, secular, profane

##### Declension
### Etymology 2

From Middle Dutch leke, from Old Dutch *leke, from Old Norse lœkr, from Proto-Germanic *lōkiz. Cognate with Dutch laak, English lake.

#### Noun

leek ? (plural leken, diminutive leekje n)
* small body of water, like a pool; gave rise to place names

### Etymology 3

Local dialect in the Dutch region Betuwe, from Latin lapathum (“kind of sorrel”).

#### Noun

leek ? (plural leken, diminutive leekje n)
* (botany) the plant Rumex crispus
* (by extension) related plants of that genus: sorrel, dock

##### Derived terms

* koeleek

### Etymology 4

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

#### Verb

leek
* singular past indicative of lijken

#### Verb

leek
* inflection of leken:
** first-person singular present indicative
** (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
** imperative

### Anagrams

* keel, leke

## Estonian
### Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *leekki, cognate to Finnish liekki and Karelian liekki. Possibly the same root as in Votic lõõkkua (“to move, to sway”) and Finnish liekkua.

### Noun

leek (genitive leegi, partitive leeki)
* blaze, flame, fire
    Mu korter on leekides.My apartment is up in flames.

#### Derived terms

* leegiheitja

## Middle English
### Noun

leek
* Alternative form of lek