Lee
/liː/noun
Shelter from the wind on the side of something away from the wind, especially a ship or hill.
Did you know?In old seafaring language, the lee side was the safe, shadowed refuge from the wind, and that same root also gave English the word for a sheltered nook or hiding place.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*leu̯-
“to loosen, bend, or bend aside”
Old English
OE
hlēo
“shelter, protection, refuge”
Middle English
ME
lee
“the sheltered side away from the wind”
Modern English
English
lee
“the side sheltered from the wind”