Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

leat

/liːt/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.96 in modern English

Syllables: leat
IPA: /liːt/

4

Scrabble Score

4

Letters

1

Syllables

4

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

An artificial watercourse, canal, or aqueduct, but especially a millrace.

Example Sentences

"His paws rested on a sunken branch. The water moved down, clouded with the mud-stirrings of the leat. He lay so still that the trout returned to their stances beside the stone sterlings."

Etymology

Probably from Middle English lete (“a meeting or intersection of roads; junction; crossroads; conduit”), from Old English ġelǣte (“a going out, ending, meeting”), as in Old English wæterġelǣt (“watercourse, aquaduct”), from Proto-Germanic *lētą, *galētą (“a letting, a letting out”). Cognate with Old High German gilāz (“outlet, exit, end, road junction”), German Gelaß (“back room, recess, private chamber”). Related to English let.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: lete, ġelǣte, *lētą

Inflected Forms

leats (plural) leet (alternative)

Derived Forms

leatwright

Phrases

mill-leat

Questions

How do you pronounce leat?: The recorded pronunciation is /liːt/.
What does leat mean?: An artificial watercourse, canal, or aqueduct, but especially a millrace.
Where does leat come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce leat

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “leat”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/liːt/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “leat”.
Repeat and practice — Say “leat” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.