lei

Abbreviation of English Lemio.

lei

1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Lemio.

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Lemio terms

• enPR: lā, IPA^(key): /leɪ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪ
• Homophones: lay, ley

Borrowed from Hawaiian lei.

lei (plural leis)

1. A garland of flowers in Hawaii.
   • 2013 August 30, Kat Kinsman, “Something borrowed: Wedding traditions from around the world”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     Both brides and grooms in native Hawaiian tradition wear flower garlands as a physical manifestation of their love for one another, and to some, the twining of the stems is reflective of two families now becoming one. A more tourist-friendly version established in the past couple of decades involves winding the leis around the couple’s hands to bind them together.

• Lei (Hawaii) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Borrowed from Romanian lei.

lei

1. plural of leu

• EIL, lie, ile-, Eli, Lie, LIE, Ile, -lie, -ile, %ile, ELI, ile

• IPA^(key): [lə̟i̯]
• Homophone: ly

From Dutch leiden, from Middle Dutch leiden, from Old Dutch leiden, from Proto-Germanic *laidijaną.

lei (present lei, present participle leidende or leiende, past participle gelei)

1. to lead

• leier

From Dutch lei, from Middle Dutch leye, probably from Celtic and ultimately from a substrate language.

lei (uncountable)

1. slate (stone)

• IPA^(key): /lei̯/ [lei̯]
• Rhymes: -ei̯
• Hyphenation: lei

lei inan

1. ice, frost

• “lei”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy] (in Basque), Euskaltzaindia [Royal Academy of the Basque Language]
• “lei”, in Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia [General Basque Dictionary], Euskaltzaindia, 1987–2005

• lai

lei

1. (Austria, Tyrol) only, just

• (Morvan) leu

From Latin locus.

lei m (plural leis)

1. place

• IPA^(key): /lɛi̯/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛi̯

From Middle Dutch leye, probably an old Germanic loan from Gaulish *lēi, from Proto-Celtic *līwanks (compare *līwos (“stone”)), from Proto-Indo-European *leh₁w- (“stone”), see also Ancient Greek λᾶας (lâas, “stone”), Albanian lerë (“boulder”).

lei f (plural leien, diminutive leitje n)

1. (uncountable) slate (material)
2. (countable) slate (object)

• leien
• leisteen
• met een schone lei herbeginnen

• → Papiamentu: lei (dated)

• -lei
• griffel

From Middle Dutch leide, with the same development as in zeggen > zei.

lei

1. (archaic) singular past indicative of leggen

• iel

• IPA^(key): /ˈlei̯/, [ˈle̞i̯]
• Rhymes: -ei
• Syllabification^(key): lei
• Hyphenation^(key): lei

From Hawaiian lei.

lei

1. lei (Hawaiian garland of flowers)

• kukkaseppele

• “lei”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[2] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 1 July 2023

From Romanian lei.

lei (nonstandard, obsolete)

1. leu (unit of currency of Romania and Moldova)

• (unit of currency): leu

• eli, lie

From Latin legere.

lei (past participle let)

1. to read

• letôr
• leture
• lezion

• IPA^(key): /lei/

From Old Galician-Portuguese lei, ley, from earlier lee, from Latin lex, lēgem, from Proto-Italic *lēg-, from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ-s < *leǵ-.

lei f (plural leis)

1. law (clarification of this definition is needed.)
2. religion, credence, worship of a god

• leal

lei m pl

1. plural of leu

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key): /ˈlei̯/, [ˈlɛj]

lei (ka)

1. lei, a wreath of flowers or leaves
2. necklace
3. (by extension) child, carried on the shoulders like a lei

• lei o manō

• → English: lei

lei

1. to leap

Inherited from Latin illaei.

The formal address Lei appears in the 16th century in connection with Signoria (“Lordship”), Eccellenza (“Excellency”), Santità (“Holiness”) and Magnificenza,^[1] alongside Voi.

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɛ.i/^[2]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophone: Lei
• Rhymes: -ɛi
• Hyphenation: lè‧i

lei f (plural loro, masculine lui)

1. she

   Synonym: ella

2. her
3. it
   • 1320, Dante Alighieri, Divine Comedy, Amadeo Augusto Lange (1788), page 161:

     La pioggia cadde, e a’ foſſati venne / Di lei ciò che la terra non ſofferſe

     The rain fell and into the channels ran / Whatever of it was not absorbed by the ground

   • ca. 1349-1353, Giovanni Boccaccio, The Decameron, Tipografia della Società Belgica (1841), page 228:

     […] videro il drappo, et in quello la testa, non ancor sì consumata, che essi alla capellatura crespa non conoscessero lei esser quella di Lorenzo.

     […] they saw the cloth and the head wrapped inside it, which was not yet sufficiently decomposed that they could not help but identify it, from the curly hair, as being Lorenzo’s.

   • ca. 1349-1353, Giovanni Boccaccio, The Decameron, Tipografia della Società Belgica (1841), page 512:

     […] Filomena in ciò che dell’amistà dice, racconta il vero, e con ragione nel fine delle sue parole si dolse lei oggi così poco da’ mortali esser gradita.

     […] Philomena is in the right as to what she has said upon friendship; and it was with reason she complained, last of all, of its being in such little esteem with mankind […]

   • 1984, Stefano Benni, Stranalandia, Feltrinelli, published 2015, page 76:

     La banana di Stranalandia è alla base dell’economia dell’isola. Senza di lei la vita qui sarebbe molto dura.

     The banana of Strangeland forms the basis of the island’s economy. Without it, life here would be very tough.

• essa

• colei

lei sg

1. (formal, polite) you

   Synonym: (uncommon) voi

• Lei

• a lei
• dare del lei

• -ile, eli

• IPA^(key): /lɑɪ̯/

lei

1. second-person singular imperative of leien

Cognate with Lugbara lɛ́ɛ.

• IPA^(key): [lɛ́(j)ɨ́]
• Hyphenation: le‧i

léí

2. milk

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key): [lé(j)í]
• Hyphenation: le‧i

lẹ́ị́ (plural lẹ̃ị)

2. herdsman
3. babysitter

• IPA^(key): [lè(j)ī]
• Hyphenation: le‧i

lẹ̃ị

2. plural of lẹ́ị́

• Mairi Blackings; Nigel Fabb (2003), A Grammar of Ma'di, New York: Mouton de Gruyter, page 64

lei (lei⁵ / lei⁰, Zhuyin ˙ㄌㄟ)

1. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 嘞

lei

1. nonstandard spelling of lēi
2. nonstandard spelling of léi
3. nonstandard spelling of lěi
4. nonstandard spelling of lèi

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *lay (“earth”), from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *mV-lej.

lei

1. earth
2. the ground
3. soil

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *(h)lay (“to buy”), from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *laj (“to exchange”).

lei

1. to buy, purchase

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *(h)lay (“bridge”), from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *sV-ləj (“ladder, bridge”).

lei

1. bridge

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *lay (“tongue”), from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m/s-laj ~ s-lej.

lei

1. tongue (organ in mouth)

• Lorrain, J. Herbert (1940), “lei”, in Dictionary of the Lushai language, Calcutta: Asiatic Society

• läie (Goesharde)
• laie (Halligen)
• lai (Heligoland)
• lade (Mooring)
• lii (Sylt)
• läde (Wiedingharde)

From Old Frisian ledza, from Proto-West Germanic *liggjan, from Proto-Germanic *ligjaną (“to lie”), from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- (“to lie”).

lei (Föhr-Amrum)

1. to lie; to be situated
2. to lay

• (Kautokeino) IPA^(key): /ˈlej/

lei

1. third-person singular past indicative of leat

• IPA^(key): /læɪ̯/

From Old Norse leiðr.

lei (masculine and feminine lei, neuter leit, definite singular and plural leie, comparative leiere, indefinite superlative leiest, definite superlative leieste)

1. uncomfortable, bothersome
2. bored, tired
3. sad, unfortunate

From Old Norse leið.

lei f or m (definite singular leia or leien, indefinite plural leier, definite plural leiene)

1. direction
2. distance

• led (of lide)

lei

1. simple past of lide
2. imperative of leie

• “lei” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

• IPA^(key): /lɛɪː/

From Old Norse leið.

lei f (definite singular leia, indefinite plural leier, definite plural leiene)

1. (maritime) route, sea route (a route, mostly along a coastline or between islands, that is safe to sail)
2. direction

From Old Norse leiðr.

lei (masculine and feminine lei, neuter leitt, definite singular and plural leie, comparative leiare, indefinite superlative leiast, definite superlative leiaste)

1. tired, fed up, bored
2. awkward, uncomfortable

lei seg

1. sad

lei

1. imperative of leie

lei

1. past of li

• “lei” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

• Audio (Béarn):

  (file)

lei m pl or f pl

1. (Provençal) plural of lo

• lai
• loi
• leye
• laye

From Latin lex, legem.

lei oblique singular, f (oblique plural lez, nominative singular lei, nominative plural lez)

1. a law

• leal

• Middle French: loy
  • French: loi
    • ⇒ Haitian Creole: lalwa
    • → Moore: laloa
• Norman: louai

• ley (obsolete)

From Old Galician-Portuguese lei, ley, from earlier lee, from Latin lēgem, from Proto-Italic *lēg-, from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ-s < *leǵ-.

Cognate with Galician lei, Spanish ley, Catalan llei, Occitan lei, French loi, Italian legge and Romanian lege.

• Audio (Portugal (Porto)):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: lei

lei f (plural leis)

1. law
   • 1572, Luís Vaz de Camões, Os Lusíadas, 1st canto:

     E aqueles, que por obras valerosas / Se vão da lei da morte libertando.

     And those who by valourous deeds free themselves from the law of Death.

• leal
• legal
• legítimo
• lídimo

• “lei”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

• IPA^(key): /lej/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ej
• Hyphenation: lei

lei m pl

1. plural of leu

• → Hungarian: lej

• leze

Borrowed from Spanish ley, from Latin lex, legem.

lei

1. (Campidanese) law

lei (third-person singular simple present leis, present participle leiin, simple past and past participle leid)

1. (Southern Scots) Alternative form of lee.

• IPA^(key): /ˈlei/ [ˈlei̯]
• Rhymes: -ei
• Syllabification: lei
• Homophone: ley

lei m pl

1. (proscribed) plural of leu

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *lay, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m-lay. Cognates include Burmese လျှာ (hlya) and Tibetan ལྕེ (lce).

• IPA^(key): /lə̄j/
• Hyphenation: lei

lei

1. tongue

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *lay, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *mV-lej. Cognates include Burmese မြေ (mre) and Tibetan གལྱི (glyi).

• IPA^(key): /lə́j/
• Hyphenation: lei

léi

1. earth
   • 1992, Holy Bible In Zou, Siemchilbu 1:1:

     Achiil in Paisan Lei leh Van asiem.

     In the beginning God created the Earth and Heaven.

2. land
3. ground, soil

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *lay, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *sV-ləj. Cognates include Burmese လှေကား (hleka:, “ladder”) and Chinese 梯 (tī, “ladder”).

• IPA^(key): /lə̀j/
• Hyphenation: lei

lèi

1. bridge

• Chungkham Yashawanta Singh; Lukram Himmat (2013), A Descriptive Grammar of Zou, Canchipur: Manipur University, page 62