Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

lew

/ljuː/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.27 in modern English

Syllables: lew
IPA: /ljuː/

6

Scrabble Score

3

Letters

1

Syllables

3

Unique Chars

Meaning

name

A diminutive of the male given name Lewis.

name

A diminutive of the male given name Lewis.

name

noun

A French gold coin circulated in 15th-century Scotland.

Obsolete

adj

Obsolete

adj

Lukewarm, tepid.

adj

Alee: protected from the wind.

noun

Example Sentences

"When Lew Wasserman reinvented the studio system, leadership skills grew harder to find and the number of modern studio conglomerates boiled down to six, as discussed in chapters 15 to 20."
"...þe Ingliss noble, henry, ande Eduarde wᵗ þe ross, þe franche crowne, þe salute þe lewe and þe Ridar sall haif courss in þis realme..."
"Lee or Lew, Calm, under the wind. Suss."
"His house... was ‘loo’ from the cold north winds."
"To th' end a fruitfull lew May euerie Climate in his time renew."
"Lew, shelter; defence from storms or wind."

Etymology

From corruption of French louis, from Louis, presumably Louis IX or Louis XI, who issued gold écus.

Origin

Source language: French

Word Breakdown

Root: louis, lew, *hlēowe, *hliwi, *hliwjaz, *ḱal(w)e-

Usage

Inflected Forms

Lews (plural) lewis (plural) leois (plural) lewe (alternative) lewer (comparative) lewest (superlative) lue (alternative) loo (alternative) looe (alternative) lee (alternative) lews (present, singular) lewing (participle, present)

Derived Forms

lewth

Phrases

house-lew looky-loo

Frequently Paired Words

Lewy Lou

Homonyms

lieu Liu lue loo Lou lu (yod-dropping)

Rhymes With

to you do who to-do new two too through few true due

Questions

How do you pronounce lew?: The recorded pronunciation is /ljuː/.
What does lew mean?: A diminutive of the male given name Lewis.
Where does lew come from?: It is traced to French.

How to pronounce lew

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