leek

Meaning

1. A vegetable of variety variety, having edible leaves and an onion-like bulb but with a milder flavour than the onion.
2. Any of several species of Allium, broadly resembling the domesticated plant in appearance in the wild.

Synonyms

scallion

Allium porrum

see

👀

green onion

wart

wild

shallot

look

Pronounced as (IPA)

/liːk/

Etymology

From Middle English leke, leek, lek, from Old English lēac (“a garden herb, leek, onion, garlic”), from Proto-West Germanic *lauk, from Proto-Germanic *lauką *laukaz (“leek, onion”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewg- (“to bend”).
Cognate with Dutch look (“garlic, leek”), German Low German Look (“leek”), German Lauch (“leek, allium”), Danish løg (“onion”), Swedish lök (“onion”), Icelandic laukur (“onion, leek, garlic”). See garlic.