Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. An edible plant (Allium porrum) related to the onion and having a white, slender bulb and flat, dark-green leaves.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. One of several species of the genus Allium; especially, a biennial culinary plant, Allium Porrum. It is distinguished from the onion (A. Cepa) by having a cylindrical base instead of a spherical or flattened bulb, by its flat leaves, and by its milder flavor. It is stimulant and diuretic. The cultivated leek is believed to have originated from the wild leek, A. Ampeloprasum, found in southern Europe and western Asia. It was probably cultivated in ancient Egypt, and may have been the plant called by that name in Numbers xi. 5. According to Pliny, it was made prominent among the Romans by Nero; and at the present day it is still in extensive use. The leek has long been the national badge of the Welsh, traditionally said to have been adopted by direction of St. David, in celebration of a victory of King Arthur over the Saxons. The crow-leek is the bluebell squill, Scilla nutans; the sand-leek, Allium Scorodoprasum, found in sandy places in the middle latitudes of Europe; the stone-leek, A. fistulosum, known as Welsh onion; the vine-leek, A. Ampeloprasum; the wild leek, A. Ampeloprasum, A. ursinum, and, in America, A. tricoccum. (See also
house-leek .) - n. Polytelis barrabandi, a small parrot, green with a scarlet breast. Also called green-leek.
Wiktionary
- n. The vegetable Allium ampeloprasum variety porrum, of the lily family, having edible leaves and an onion-like bulb but with a milder flavour than the onion.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Bot.) A plant of the genus Allium (Allium Porrum), having broadly linear succulent leaves rising from a loose oblong cylindrical bulb. The flavor is stronger than that of the common onion.
WordNet 3.0
- n. related to onions; white cylindrical bulb and flat dark-green leaves
- n. plant having a large slender white bulb and flat overlapping dark green leaves; used in cooking; believed derived from the wild Allium ampeloprasum
Etymologies
- From Middle English, from Old English lēac ("a garden herb, leek, onion, garlic"), from Proto-Germanic *laukan (“leek, onion”), from Proto-Indo-European *leug- (“to bend”). Cognate with Dutch look ("garlic, leek"), German Lauch ("leek, allium"), Swedish lök ("onion"), Icelandic laukur ("onion, leek, garlic"). See garlic. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English lek, from Old English lēac. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Indeed, the leek is "l'emblème national du Pays de Galles" (national emblem for Wales)!”
“I know there is that emotive issue of it being one of our national emblems but hey, the leek is a national emblem of Wales and they don't seem to have any issues about eating it.”
“The leek was a bit strong on the wine but great in texture.”
“When we say that the leek is the asparagus of the poor, that's not nice to the leek, the asparagus or the poor man.”
“The leek was a favourite vegetable in Egypt, and is still largely cultivated there and in Palestine.”
“The leek was a bulbous vegetable resembling the onion.”
“Without the fowl, the above, which would then be merely called leek soup, is very good, and also economical.”
“I did this with herbs, with vegetables the leek was the most recent, with beans, with peas, with arugula and other greens, with almost everything I could lay my hands on.”
“Unlike the bulb that onion and garlic produces, the lower part of the leek is a tight bundle of leaves.”
“Livia: I love the idea of leek fritters for Passover.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘leek’.
-
henryar's list
marmoleum, menagerie, cyan, ochre, pilfer, discombobulate, loquacious, iridescent, amethyst, derelict, botulism, equilibrium and 240 more...
-
Gas-Inducing Foodstuffs
Foods that produce flatulence. List title a shameless filching of a fortuitous phrase yarb introduced in his definition of scotch egg. I know everyone has a few foods they avoid at certain times ...
scotch egg, cabbage, chili beans, garbanzo beans, chickpeas, hummus, pickled eggs, rutabaga, radish, jerusalem artichoke, brussels sprouts, cauliflower and 42 more...
-
ChortleGiggleSnort
Significant Words- Guiding you on your path to Snazzibility
flimsy, feeble, ranting, ramble, narky, snazzy, yoghurt, bulbous, pustule, globulous, geranium, megalomaniac and 521 more...
-
billfence's Words
quotidian, flux, sawbuck, horsefeathers, chalcedony, harp, no, fox, tennis, badminton, flue, charm and 186 more...
-
The O.U.P. Junior Dictionary Death Row
Another news story about words being removed from a dictionary before their time. See also the list of words added to the dictionary.
carol, cracker, holly, ivy, mistletoe, dwarf, elf, goblin, abbey, aisle, altar, bishop and 137 more...
-
spoon
being items relating to food, cooking and the kitchen.
spoon, fork, beef, slice, dozen, eggs, simmer, broil, salad, soup, stock, lard and 287 more...
-
theastic's Words
cellar, stalemate, wrought, opal, tyrant, squelch, squab, linen, tartan, paisley, scope, siren and 395 more...
-
Words Covered in Faery Dust (L)
words that evoke magic, mystery, mayhem, magnificence or anything else that glimmers in the grass
labyrinth, lace, lad, lady fingers, lagoon, lamb, lament, lammas, lantern, larkspur, lass, lauds and 92 more...
-
bearfax december 2006
opulent, spot, kaffee, sift, cedar, pushy, buckwheat, zydeco, chemeketa, hood, blood, food and 107 more...
-
DYSLEXIC'S DREAD
Words That Make Sense in Reverse Too! Bad news for a dyslexic, 'cause s/he's got no clue if s/he read the word correctly or not, as opposed to a palindrome (i.e., no mistake possible, cf. "Dyslexic...
tool, lever, nap, pool, leer, leek, desserts, strop, doom, ukiah, yaws, ward and 213 more...
-
2011 July
New words
correspondent, promulgate, transgress, trite, ravine, corespondent, contrivance, contrive, expedient, conducive, clairvoyance, difform and 184 more...
-
NihonGoose's Words
colander, doily, nacre, mandible, carapace, glutinous, penumbral, skein, mollify, colloquial, sanguine, chagrin and 118 more...
-
Stately Plants
The flowers and trees of states and nations.
camellia, forget-me-not, saguaro cactus, apple blossom, Calafornia poppy, Rocky Mountain, mountain laurel, peach blossom, American beauty rose, orange blossom, Cherokee rose, pua aloalo and 210 more...
-
5-0
Hecko, words! I’m so happy I’ve found you. I want to keep you all and never want to lose you again. I hope you like it here.
amscray, thistledown, tine, tinsel, pungent, snarl, wail, lanky, viscid, dawdle, luminous, stow and 2719 more...
-
Chromonyms
These chromonyms are defined as colors in at least one dictionary (mostly MW3). (Actually there's one fake, for reasons I'll explain someday.) They are all one-word nouns such as "kelly", which can...
absinthe, acacia, acorn, alabaster, alesan, almond, aloma, amaranth, amber, amethyst, anemone, anil and 821 more...
-
encyclopedia gustatorica
béchamel, tart, pie, cupcake, roux, jambalaya, étouffé, succulent, plum, pomegranate, peach, apple and 300 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for leek.
bilby "I have a short but I hope sweet puzzle for you today. I wonder if any of you can explain the name of the following recipe which I found in Cassell's Dictionary of Cookery (1870's)?
Gingerbread Leek (excellent)
Mix thoroughly, one ounce and a half of ginger in one pound and a half of flour; add one pound and a quarter of sugar, and two ounces of peel, cut very fine. Melt together half a pound of butter, and a quarter of a pound of the best treacle. Stir these into the flour etc., flavour with three drops of essence of lemon, or more, if liked, and make the mixture into a smooth firm paste, with three eggs, well beaten. Roll out on a floured board, and cut the paste into fingers. Bake in a good oven for ten minutes. Store in a closely-covered tin box.
The only idea I can come up with is that the name is derived from the medieval ‘leach’ or ‘leche’, referring to a dish which can be sliced. The definition of this word in the Oxford English Dictionary does include a reference to gingerbread:
'A dish consisting of sliced meat, eggs, fruits, and spices in jelly or some other coagulating material. Often in adoptions of Anglo-Norman combinations, denoting particular varieties, e.g. leche frye compare Old French lechefroie, modern French lèchefrite, dripping-pan , damask leach, dugard leach, lumbard leach, purple leach, royal leach, etc. dry leach: a sort of cake or gingerbread, containing dates, etc. white leach: a gelatine of almonds.' "
- The Old Foodie, 17 June 2011. Jun 18, 2011
oroboros Keel in reverse. Nov 3, 2007