leu

Etymology

Borrowed from Romanian leu (“lion”), from Latin leō (“lion”). Doublet of lion

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈleɪ.uː/

Noun

leu (plural lei)

1. The unit of currency of Romania, equal to one hundred bani.
2. The unit of currency of Moldova, equal to one hundred bani.

Anagrams

• -ule, Elu, Lue, lue, ule

Noun

leu

1. A leu (unit of currency of Romania and Moldova).

Anagrams

• lue

Etymology

From Romanian leu (“lion”)

Noun

leu m (plural lei)

1. leu (currency of Romania)

Further reading

• “leu” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• élu, lue

Noun

leu m (plural lei)

1. leu

Verb

leu

1. Third-person singular (el, ela, vostede^?) preterite indicative of ler

Verb

leu

1. past participle of lire

Etymology 1

From Latin lupus.

Etymology 2

From Latin locus.

Etymology

From Spanish lejos and French loin .

Adjective

leu

1. far

Pronunciation

• (Portugal, Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈlew/

Etymology 1

Etymology 2

From Romanian leu (“leu; lion”).

Alternative forms

• леу (post-1930s (Moldovan) Cyrillic spelling)

Etymology

Probably a later learned borrowing from Latin leō (“lion”) (around the 17th century), itself from Ancient Greek λέων (léōn). If inherited from the nominative form, the expected result in Romanian would have been *ieu (as iepure from leporem)^[1]; furthermore, all the other Romance cognates were derived from the accusative form leōnem or genitive leōnis (and some were borrowings themselves). Cf. also lăun and Lăune(le) (“a river in Romania”), as well as leoaie.

For the name of the currency, it was probably based on the Dutch leeuwendaalder (“lion thaler/dollar”), which depicted a lion; cf. daalder, also German löwenthaler. This traces back to the 17th century, when the Dutch currency was used in the Romanian principalities. Another explanation gives the origin of this sense as a calque of Turkish arslan (“lion”), which was also used to refer to a type of currency with a lion on it^[2]; see also piastru (English piastre). Compare also the sense of currency with Bulgarian лев (lev).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lew/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

leu m (plural lei)

1. lion
2. leu (the Romanian unit of currency)

References

Etymology

From Romanian leu (“lion”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɛu̯/
• Homophone: lev

Noun

leu m (nominative plural lei)

1. leu (currency of Romania)

Further reading

• leu in Slovak dictionaries at korpus.sk

Noun

leu m (plural lei)

1. leu

Alternative forms

• leû

Etymology

From Old French leu, from Latin lupus.

Noun

leu m (plural leus)

1. wolf

References

• “Leu” in Laurent Remacle, Dictionnaire wallon-français (1852).
• “Leu” in Joseph Hubert, Dictionnaire wallon-liégeois et français (1853).