Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Leek |
LeekNoun1. Plant having a large slender white bulb and flat overlapping dark green leaves; used in cooking; believed derived from the wild Allium ampeloprasum. 2. Related to onions; white cylindrical bulb and flat dark-green leaves. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "leek" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1379. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Bible | Leek (Heb. hatsir; the Allium porrum), rendered "grass" in 1 Kings 18:5, 2 Kings 19:26, Job 40:15, etc.; "herb" in Job 8:12; "hay" in Prov. 27:25, and Isa. 15:6; "leeks" only in Num. 11:5. This Hebrew word seems to denote in this last passage simply herbs, such as lettuce or savoury herbs cooked as kitchen vegetables, and not necessarily what are now called leeks. The leek was a favourite vegetable in Egypt, and is still largely cultivated there and in Palestine. Source: Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary. |
Food & Agriculture | Looking like a giant scallion, the leek is related to both garlic and the onion even though its flavor and fragrance are milder and more subtle. Because they're so sweet, leeks are often cooked and served as a side vegetable. Source: European Union. (references) |
Literature | Leek Wearing the leek on St. David's day. Mr. Brady says St. David caused the Britons under King Cadwallader to distinguish themselves by a leek in their caps. They conquered the Saxons, and recall their victory by adopting the leek on every anniversary (March 1st). (Clavis Calendaria.) Wearing the leek is obsolete. (Anglo-Saxon leac.) Shakespeare makes out that the Welsh wore leeks at the battle of Poitiers, for Fluelleu says:- "If your majesties is remembered of it, the Welshmen did good service in a garden where leeks did grow, wearing leeks in their Monmouth caps, which, your majesty know, to this hour is an honourable badge of the service, and I do believe your majesty takes no scorn to wear the leek upon St. Tavy's Day"- Henry V. iv 7. To eat the leek. To be compelled to eat your own words, or retract what you have said. Fluellen (in Shakespeare's Henry V.) is taunted by Pistol for wearing a leek in his hat. "Hence," says Pistol, "I am qualmish at the smell of leek." Fluellen replies, "I peseech you, at my desire to eat this leek." The ancient answers, "Not for Cadwallader and all his goats." Then the peppery Welshman beats him, nor desists till Pistol has swallowed the entire abhorrence. Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Leek is a placename in more than one country:Netherlands: Leek, Netherlands
United Kingdom: Leek, Staffordshire Leek is also a vegetable: Leek (vegetable)
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Leek."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The leek (Allium porrum L.) is a vegetable belonging, with onion and garlic, to the Alliaceae, the onion-like plants.Leeks were prized by the Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Romans who distributed it all over Europe. It is the national symbol of Wales.
It is cultivated only in the open and never in greenhouses. Leeks are an essential ingredient of cock-leekie soup.
See also: List of vegetables
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Leek (vegetable)."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Leek (population: 19,350) is a town in the northeastern Netherlands, in the province of Groningen. The municipality covers an area of 64.00 km2 (of which 0.63 km2 water).The municipality of Leek also includes the following towns, villages and townships: Enumatil, Lettelbert, Midwolde, Oostwold, Tolbert, Zevenhuizen.
External Links
- Official Website
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Leek, Netherlands."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Leek is a town in the county of Staffordshire, England, on the River Churnet. It is an ancient borough and was granted its royal charter in 1214. Today it has around 20,000 inhabitants, and is the administrative center for the Staffordshire Moorlands District Council.The town has had a regular cattle market for hundreds of years, reflecting its role as a center of local farming. During the industrial revolution it became a major producer of textiles. Though this industry has declined somewhat, it has continued through the large number of clothing manufacturers in the town, and the prominence of dyeing and allied trades.
Leek was the home of James Brindley, the 18th century engineer who built most of the canal network. He built a water-powered corn mill in 1752. This watermill is now the Brindley Water Museum.
William Morris, founder of the Arts and Crafts movement, lived and worked in Leek between 1875 and 1878.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Leek, Staffordshire."
Synonym: LeekSynonym: scallion (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Submission | Eat dirt, eat the leek, eat humble pie; bite the dust, lick the dust; be at one's feet, fall at one's feet; craven; crouch before, throw oneself at the feet of; swallow the leek, swallow the pill; kiss the rod; turn the other cheek; avaler les couleuvres, gulp down. |
Tergiversation | Draw in one's horns, eat one's words; eat the leek, swallow the leek; swerve, flinch, back out of, retrace one's steps, think better of it; come back return to one's first love; turn over a new leaf; (repent). |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Leek |
| English words defined with "leek": Allium, Allium paradoxum, Allium scorodoprasum, Allium sphaerocephalum, Allium triquetrum ♦ few-flowered leek ♦ genus Allium, giant garlic ♦ Porraceous, Porret ♦ rocambole, round-headed leek ♦ sand leek, Spanish garlic ♦ three-cornered leek, triquetrous leek. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "leek": Flowers and Trees ♦ Symbols of Saints. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "leek": Prasoid. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Leek" is also a word in the following languages with English translations in parentheses. Afrikaan (layman), Dutch (layman), Maya (to relapse). |
| Domain | Title |
Books |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| "Leek" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 57.55% of the time. "Leek" is used about 106 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 57.55% | 61 | 43,149 |
| Noun (proper) | 42.45% | 45 | 50,900 |
| Total | 100.00% | 106 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes the usage of "leek" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified. |
| Name | Usage/Gender | Usage per 100 million Persons | Rank in USA |
| Leek | Last name | 1,000 | 10,743 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits. | |||
Expressions using "leek": eat the leek ♦ japanese leek ♦ lady's leek ♦ meadow leek ♦ rose leek ♦ sand leek ♦ triquetrous leek ♦ wild leek. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "leek": Leek-and-potato, leek-based. | |
Ending with "leek": Green-leek, rush-leek. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
leek | 93 | buyer leek wholesale | 10 |
leek seed | 78 | kingdom leek united | 6 |
potato leek soup | 57 | rainbow leek | 6 |
agriculture leek | 43 | leek vegetable | 3 |
leek soup | 27 | potato leek | 3 |
leek recipe | 21 | flower leek | 3 |
kershaw leek rainbow | 21 | leek picture | 3 |
importer leek | 20 | in leek uk | 2 |
potato leek soup recipe | 18 | gary leek | 2 |
company leek list | 15 | wild leek | 2 |
leek seller | 13 | kershaw knife leek | 2 |
sybil leek | 13 | bouncing leek uptones | 2 |
recipe for leek soup | 11 | cream leek soup | 2 |
kershaw leek | 10 | ||
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "leek"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | pras, hudhër (garlic). (various references) | |
Arabic | كراث نوع من الثوم, إنتظر طويلا. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | праз-лук (leeks). (various references) | |
Catalan | all (garlic). (various references) | |
Chamorro | nira'. (various references) | |
Chinese | 韭葱, 韭 . (various references) | |
Cornish | kenynen. (various references) | |
Czech | pórek. (various references) | |
Danish | porrer, porre, hvidløg (garlic). (various references) | |
Dutch | look (garlic), prei, knoflook (garlic), gewone prei. (various references) | |
Faeroese | hvítleykur (garlic), geirleykur (garlic). (various references) | |
Farsi | گندنا. (various references) | |
Finnish | purjosipuli. (various references) | |
French | poireau. (various references) | |
Frisian | knyflok (garlic). (various references) | |
German | Lauch (allium, garlic, leeks), porree. (various references) | |
Greek | πράσο. (various references) | |
Hawaiian | hudhër (garlic). (various references) | |
Hungarian | póréhagyma. (various references) | |
Indonesian | bawang bakung. (various references) | |
Italian | aglio (garlic). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 韮葱 , 韮 (scallion), 西洋葱 , ラ欄 (league, leaguer, leak, leak detector, legal, radio listings). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | リーク (leak), リーキ , にらねぎ, にら (scallion), せいようねぎ. (various references) | |
Korean | 부". (various references) | |
Manx | lus y thie, lus thie, lus leayshagh, lus (herb, plant, vervain). (various references) | |
Norwegian | purre, hvitløk (garlic). (various references) | |
Papiamen | konoflok (garlic), konofló (garlic). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | eeklay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | hortense comum, alhos franceses, alho-porro, alho-porró bravo, alho (garlic). (various references) | |
Romanian | praz. (various references) | |
Russian | лук-порей. (various references) | |
Sepedi | diliki. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | praziluk. (various references) | |
Spanish | puerro, ajo (cuss, garlic). (various references) | |
Sranan | kunofroku (garlic). (various references) | |
Swedish | purjolök. (various references) | |
Turkish | pırasa. (various references) | |
Ukrainian | цибуля-порей. (various references) | |
Vietnamese | tỏi tây ngậm đắng nuốt cay, chịu nhục. (various references) | |
Welsh | cenhinen. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | alium, allium, Allium porrum, porrique, porro, porrum. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "leek": leeks. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "leek": belleek, cleek, gleek, houseleek, sleek. (additional references) | |
Words containing "leek": belleeks, cleeked, cleeking, cleeks, gleeked, gleeking, gleeks, houseleeks, sleeked, sleeken, sleekened, sleekening, sleekens, sleeker, sleekest, sleekier, sleekiest, sleeking, sleekit, sleekly, sleekness, sleeknesses, sleeks, sleeky. (additional references) | |
| |
"Leek" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: alek, bleek, eeek, eeeuk, elec, Eleko, eleo, elik, Elleke, Gleik, Glek, keek, leac, leack, Leeb, leef, leeg, leej, Leeke, leeki, leeky, leel, leem, leeo, leev, leic, leik, lek, Lekh, lele, lelei, lenk, lerk, lesk, Leski, leuk, leuu, liec, Liyeko, Lodekka, loeak, Loek, Loeki, lyc, lyk, lzee, veek, zeek, zlabek. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "leek" (pronounced lē"k) |
| 3 | l ē" k | bleak, cleek, clique, leak, oblique, sleek. |
| 2 | -ē" k | antique, batik, beak, bespeak, boutique, cacique, cheek, chic, creak, Creek, critique, Dominique, eke, freak, geek, greek, meek, misspeak, mystique, peak, peek, physique, pique, reek, respeak, seek, sheik, Sheikh, shriek, sneak, speak, squeak, streak, teak, technique, tweak, unique, weak, week, wreak. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: keel, leke. | |
| Words within the letters "e-e-k-l" | |
-1 letter: eel, eke, elk, lee, lek. | |
-2 letters: el. | |
| Words containing the letters "e-e-k-l" | |
+1 letter: cleek, gleek, keels, kelep, kevel, kneel, leeks, sleek. | |
+2 letters: alkene, belike, cleeks, deckel, deckle, ekuele, gleeks, heckle, keckle, keeled, keenly, kegler, keleps, kelped, kelpie, kelter, kennel, kernel, kettle, kevels, kneels, leaked, leaker, meekly, meikle, shekel, sleeks, sleeky, vakeel, weekly. | |
+3 letters: alkenes, apelike, bedlike, beelike, befleck, belleek, bleaker, cleeked, clerked, deckels, deckles, eellike, ekpwele, elflike, eyelike, flecked, freckle, gemlike, gleeked, heckled, heckler, heckles, henlike, hoelike, icelike, jetlike, kantele, keckled, keckles, keelage, keeling, keelson, kegeler, keglers, kellies, kelpies, kelters, kennels, kernels, kestrel, kettles, keyhole, keyless, killdee, kleagle, klezmer, kneeled, kneeler, knelled, leakage, leakers, leakier, leglike, likened, netlike, pealike, peglike, shekels, skelped, skelter, sleeked, sleeken, sleeker, sleekit, sleekly, speckle, tealike, toelike, ukelele, ukulele, vakeels, weblike. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Images: Slideshow 6. Usage Frequency 7. Names: Frequency 8. Expressions | 9. Expressions: Internet 10. Translations: Modern 11. Translations: Ancient 12. Derivations | 13. Rhymes 14. Anagrams 15. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
