Leiden

Meaning

Leiden (a city and municipality of South Holland, Netherlands)

Hyphenated as

Lei‧den

Gender

Neuter

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈlɛi̯.də(n)/

Etymology

From Middle Dutch Leiden, older Leithen, originally the name of the village now called Leiderdorp, then transferred to the younger nearby settlement. Formerly hypothesized to be from Middle Dutch lēde (“dyke, drainage channel”), but this is derived from the past stem *lid- of Proto-Germanic *līþaną (“to pass through”), thus requiring an original -d-, not -þ- (see Grammatischer Wechsel). The early ei-spelling also speaks against this derivation. Instead probably from a Frankish *Lagiþon, from Proto-Germanic *laguz (“water”) + the placename suffix *-iþi.
The usual latinisation Lugdunum was taken from the name of a defunct historical settlement north of Katwijk, which was erroneously identified with Leiden. There is in all likelihood no relation between the two names.

Sentences

Het was baggerweer in Leiden .

It was dredging weather in Leiden.