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DUTCH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

leek.

layman, non-clergyman

4 characters1 syllables approx.Nederlands language

Meaning & usage

noun/leːk/
  1. layman, non-clergyman

    masculine
    In de middeleeuwen was er een duidelijk verschil tussen geestelijken en leken.
    Hij is een leek in kerkelijke zaken.
  2. layman, non-expert, amateur

    masculine
    Als leek op dit gebied, kan ik je niet veel advies geven.
    Veel leken vinden het moeilijk om dit te begrijpen.
Where this word comes from

From Middle Dutch lêec, leic, from Latin lāicus (“layman, laic”), from Ancient Greek λαϊκός (laïkós, “of the people”), from λαός (laós, “the people”).

noun/leːk/
  1. small body of water, like a pool; gave rise to place names

    obsolete
Where this word comes from

From Middle Dutch leke, from Old Dutch *leke, from Old Norse lœkr, from Proto-Germanic *lōkiz. Cognate with Dutch laak, English lake.

adj/leːk/
  1. lay, worldly, secular, profane

    obsolete
Where this word comes from

From Middle Dutch lêec, leic, from Latin lāicus (“layman, laic”), from Ancient Greek λαϊκός (laïkós, “of the people”), from λαός (laós, “the people”).

noun/leːk/
  1. the plant Rumex crispus

    dialectal
  2. related plants of that genus: sorrel, dock

    broadly · dialectal
Where this word comes from

Local dialect in the Dutch region Betuwe, from Latin lapathum (“kind of sorrel”), from Ancient Greek λάπαθον (lápathon, “kind of sorrel”). Probably via a form similar to ~*ledik, compare Old High German letihha.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.