Lee

• IPA^(key): /liː/
• Rhymes: -iː
• Homophones: lea, leigh, Leigh, li

From Old English lēa, the dative case of lēah (“meadow”), originally to denote someone who lived near a meadow.

• Lea, Leigh

Lee (countable and uncountable, plural Lees)

1. An English topographic surname from Middle English for someone who lived near a meadow (the Anglo-Saxon for meadow being ley or leag).
   • 2020 July 29, Jessie Yeung, “Australia names new species after Deadpool, Thor, and other Marvel favorites”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     Finally, there’s a Stan Lee fly, in honor of the late Marvel Comics visionary.

2. A unisex given name.
   1. A male given name derived from the surname, masculine of Leigh
      • 2021 September 24, Tom Gogola, “Republican Representative Lauren Boebert Goes Full Blunderbuss”, in The Nation‎^[2], retrieved 1 June 2022:

        She was joined at the New York City fete by fellow Trump throne-sniffer Lee Zeldin […]

   2. A female given name popular in conjoined names such as Lee Ann or Mary Lee.
      • 2016, Ruth Ware, In a Dark, Dark Wood, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 21:

        “Nora?” She frowned, puzzled.
        “My name's Leonora,” I said. “At school I was Lee, but now I prefer Nora. I did mention it in the e-mail.”
        I'd always hated being Lee. It was a boy's name, a name that lent itself to teasing and rhyme.

3. A placename, for example:
   1. A number of places in England:
      1. A hamlet in Berrynarbor parish, North Devon district, Devon (OS grid ref SS5546).
      2. A small village in Ilfracombe parish, North Devon district, Devon (OS grid ref SS4846).
      3. A suburb in the borough of Lewisham, Greater London (OS grid ref TQ3974).
      4. A hamlet in Romsey parish, Test Valley district, Hampshire, previously in Romsey Extra parish (OS grid ref SU3617).
      5. A hamlet in Hexhamshire parish, Northumberland (OS grid ref NY9459). ^[1]
      6. A hamlet in Ellesmere Rural parish, Shropshire (OS grid ref SJ4032).
      7. A village in Buckinghamshire, commonly known as The Lee.
      8. Alternative spelling of Lea, the River Lea in eastern England.
   2. A small settlement on the Ross of Mull, isle of Mull, Argyll and Bute council area, Scotland (OS grid ref NM4021).
   3. A river in County Cork, Ireland, that passes through the city of Cork to Cork Harbour.
      • 1955 May, Rev. A. W. V. Mace, “An Irish Journey—1”, in Railway Magazine, page 301:

        The River Lee is an important feature of the City of Cork, and on the other side of it is the Albert Quay terminus of the former Cork, Bandon & South Coast Railway.

   4. A number of places in the United States:
      1. A former settlement in Inyo County, California.
      2. A town in Madison County, Florida.
      3. A village in DeKalb County and Lee County, Illinois.
      4. An unincorporated community in Monon Township, White County, Indiana.
      5. A town in Penobscot County, Maine.
      6. A town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts.
      7. An unincorporated community in Elko County, Nevada.
      8. A town in Strafford County, New Hampshire.
      9. A town and village in Oneida County, New York.
      10. A number of townships in the United States, listed under Lee Township.

From Irish Laoi, perhaps from an ancient personal name.

Lee

1. A river in County Cork, Ireland.

From Chinese:

• Mandarin: 李 (Lǐ), and other less common surnames such as 黎 (Lí).
• Cantonese: 李 (lei5), and other less common surnames such as 利 (lei6).
• Hokkien: 李 (Lí), Teochew: 李 (li2).
• Hakka: 李 (Lí).

• Li, Le, Ly

Lee (plural Lees)

1. A surname from Chinese.
   1. A surname from Cantonese.
   2. A surname from Hokkien.
   3. A surname from Teochew.
   4. A surname from Mandarin.
   5. A surname from Hakka.

Transcription of Korean 이(李) (I) and 리(李) (Ri).

• Rhee, Ree

Lee (plural Lees)

1. A surname from Korean; alternative form of Rhee.

A diminutive.

Lee (plural Lees)

1. A male given name.
   1. A nickname for various given names with the first syllable as Lee; Clipping of Leo, Leroy.

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Lee is the 21^st most common surname in the United States, belonging to 702,625 individuals. Lee is most common among Asian/Pacific Islander (42.4%), White (36.0%) and Black/African American (16.3%) individuals.

• ELE, eel

Borrowed from Middle Low German lē, from Old Saxon hlēo. Cognate with Dutch lij, English lee.

• IPA^(key): /leː/

• Audio:

  (file)

Lee f (genitive Lee, no plural)

1. leeward side of a ship (the side away from the wind direction)

   Antonym: Luv

   tosende See an Luv und Lee ― raging sea on the windward and leeward sides

• leewärts
• Leeseite

• Bug
• Heck

• “Lee” in Duden online
• “Lee” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

• IPA^(key): [ˈliː]
• Hyphenation: Lee

Lee

1. Lee

From Middle High German leie. Cognate with German Lei, Dutch lei.

• IPA^(key): /leː/
• Rhymes: -eː

Lee f (plural Leeën)

1. (countable) slate, plate of slate (for roofing or writing)
2. (uncountable, dated) slate as a material

   Synonym: Schifer

• Leeëndecker

• Dy, Dee, Li

• (Chinese surname): From Hokkien 李 (Lí) & Cantonese 李 (Lei⁵), via English Lee.
• (Korean surname): From Korean 리(李) (Ri), via English Lee.

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈli/ [ˈlɪ]
• Rhymes: -i
• Syllabification: Lee

Lee (Baybayin spelling ᜎᜒ)

1. a Chinese Filipino surname from Hokkien
2. a Chinese Filipino surname from Cantonese
3. a surname from Korean, most notably borne by:

   Grace Lee, film distributor, businesswoman, former tv host and former radio DJ.

• According to data collected by Forebears in 2014, Lee is the 309^th most common surname in the Philippines, occurring in 25,098 individuals.

• ele