Polish

Lew

Proper noun

Lew m

1. (astronomy) Leo (constellation)
2. Leo (the zodiac sign)
3. A male given name, cognate to English Leo

English

Noun

lew ‎(plural lews or lewis or leois)

1. (Scotland, obsolete) A French gold coin circulated in 15th-century Scotland.
   • 1467, Scottish Acts of James III, Vol. II, p. 88:

     ...þe Ingliss noble, henry, ande Eduarde w^t þe ross, þe franche crowne, þe salute þe lewe and þe Ridar sall haif courss in þis realme...

Alternative forms

• lewe

Etymology 2

From Middle English lew, lewe, from Old English hlēow, hlēowe ‎(“warm, sunny, sheltered”), from Proto-Germanic *hlewaz, *hliwjaz, *hlēwaz ‎(“warm, lukewarm”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱal(w)e-, *ḱlēw- ‎(“warm, hot”). Cognate with Old Norse hlýr ‎(“warm, mild”), ( > Danish ly ‎(“lukewarm”)), hlær, German lau, which are themselves akin to Old Norse hlé ‎(“lee”), Danish læ ‎(“shelter”). Compare lee.^[2]

Alternative forms

• lue, loo, looe, lee, loo

Adjective

lew ‎(comparative lewer, superlative lewest)

1. (obsolete) Sunny; warm.
2. (dialect) Lukewarm, tepid.
3. (dialect) Alee: protected from the wind.
   • 1674, J. Ray, "South & East Countrey Words" in Coll. Eng. Words, p. 70:

     Lee or Lew, Calm, under the wind. Suss.

   • 1892, H. C. O'Neill, Devonshire Idyls, p. 7:

     His house... was ‘loo’ from the cold north winds.

Usage notes

Now chiefly Southern Scottish and Northern English.

Noun

Sheep sheltering beside a stone wall. Shepherds formerly raised lews—structures of thatch and sticks—for the same purpose.

lew ‎(plural lews)

1. (now Scotland) Warmth, heat.
   • 1605, J. Sylvester translating G. de S. Du Bartas as Deuine Weekes & Wks, Book i, Ch. iv, p. 136:

     To th' end a fruitfull lew
     May euerie Climate in his time renew.

2. (dialect) A shelter from the wind, particularly temporary structures raised by shepherds to protect their flocks.
   • 1825, J. Jennings, Observ. Dial. W. Eng., p. 52:

     Lew, shelter; defence from storms or wind.

   • 1887, W. D. Parish & al., Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect:

     Lew, a thatched hurdle, supported by sticks, and set up in a field to screen lambs, etc. from the wind.

Derived terms

• house-lew

Verb

lew ‎(third-person singular simple present lews, present participle lewing, simple past and past participle lewed)

1. (transitive) To make warm or lukewarm.
2. (intransitive, obsolete) To become warm.
3. (transitive) To shelter from the wind.
   • 1887, W. D. Parish & al., Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect:

     Lew... Those trees will lew the house when they're up-grown.

Etymology 3

Of uncertain etymology, but compare Old English gelewed ‎(“weakness, infirmity”) and limlaeweo ‎(“limb-weak, lame”).^[3]

Adjective

lew ‎(comparative more lew, superlative most lew)

1. Weak.
2. Sickly-looking, pale, wan.
   • c. 1325,, "Old Age" in T. Wright & al.'s 1845 Reliquiae Antiquae, Vol. II, p. 211:

     Mi bodi wexit lewe.

Etymology 4

Variant of lo (q.v.).^[4]

Interjection

lew

1. (obsolete) Alternative form of lo or look: a cry to look at something.
   • a. 1500, Towneley Plays, Book I, Scene iii, l. 46:

     Hence bot a litill She commys, lew, lew!

Derived terms

• looky-loo

Etymology 5

Variant of lue (q.v.).^[5]

Verb

lew ‎(third-person singular simple present lews, present participle lewing, simple past and past participle lewed)

1. (mining, dialect, transitive) Alternative form of lue: to sift, particularly while mining tin or silver.
   • 1674, John Ray, A Collection of English Words, Not Generally Used, p. 122:

     Cornwall... The fine [sc. tin] is lewed in a fine sierce.

References

1. ↑ "† lew, n.¹" in the Oxford English Dictionary (1902), Oxford: Oxford University Press.
2. ↑ "lew, adj.¹ and n.²" and "lew, v." in the Oxford English Dictionary (1902), Oxford: Oxford University Press.
3. ↑ "lew, adj.²" in the Oxford English Dictionary (1902), Oxford: Oxford University Press.
4. ↑ "lew, int." in the Oxford English Dictionary (1902), Oxford: Oxford University Press.
5. ↑ "lue | lew, v." in the Oxford English Dictionary (1903), Oxford: Oxford University Press.

• “lew” in An American Dictionary of the English Language, by Noah Webster, 1828.
• lew in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

Cornish

Etymology

From Proto-Brythonic *lew, from Latin leō.

Pronunciation

• (Revived Middle Cornish) IPA^(key): [lɛˑʊ]
• (Revived Late Cornish) IPA^(key): [leˑʊ]

Noun

lew m ‎(plural lewyon)

1. lion

Gothic

Romanization

lēw

1. Romanization of 𐌻𐌴𐍅

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [lɛf]

Etymology 1

From Proto-Slavic *lьvъ. Probably from a Germanic language, from Latin leō.

Noun

lew m anim ‎(diminutive lewek, augmentative lwisko, feminine lwica)

1. lion
2. (heraldry) lion

Declension

Derived terms

• (noun) lwię n
• (adjective) lwi

Etymology 2

From Bulgarian лев ‎(lev)

Noun

lew m inan

1. lev

Declension

Etymology 3

Noun

lew

1. genitive plural of lewa

Welsh

Noun

lew

1. Soft mutation of llew.

Zazaki

lewi

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *leb-, cognate with Persian لب ‎(lab), English lip etc.

Noun

lew ?

1. (anatomy) lip