Ley
/leɪ/noun
A strip of land left unplowed and used as a meadow or pasture; also, a surname and place-name element.
Did you know?In Old English, *lēah* meant a clearing, meadow, or woodland opening, and it survives in countless English place names like Leicester, Berkeley, and Stanley.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*lauhaz
“a clearing, meadow, or open woodland”
Old English
OE
lēah
“a clearing in a wood, meadow, or pasture”
Middle English
ME
ley
“a meadow or grassy clearing”
Modern English
English
ley
“a meadow or pasture; a place-name element”