lees en · NOUN · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- (Southern-England) audio
- /liːz/
Etymology
From Old French lies, from Medieval Latin lias (“lees, dregs”) (descent via winemaking common in monasteries), from Gaulish *ligyā, *legyā (“silt, sediment”) (compare Welsh llai, Old Breton leh (“deposit, silt”)), from Proto-Celtic *legyā (“layer”), from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- (“to lie (down)”). Doublet of lias; also related to Loire and Leicester.
Meanings
-
(plural, plural-only) The sediment that settles during fermentation of beverages, consisting of dead yeast and precipitated parts of the fruit.
Methinks my body is but the lees of my better being.
1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chapter 7:Kipper drained his glass to the lees and seemed to become calmer.
1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter X:
Deriveds
Relateds
Synonyms
dregs (sediment)
Translations (25)
bg утайка (the sediment that settles during fermentation of beverages, consisting of dead yeast and precipitated parts of the fruit) · hu üledék (the sediment that settles during fermentation of beverages, consisting of dead yeast and precipitated parts of the fruit) · hy մրուր (the sediment that settles during fermentation of beverages, consisting of dead yeast and precipitated parts of the fruit) · gl borra (the sediment that settles during fermentation of beverages, consisting of dead yeast and precipitated parts of the fruit) · hu seprő (the sediment that settles during fermentation of beverages, consisting of dead yeast and precipitated parts of the fruit) · ga amhaisc (the sediment that settles during fermentation of beverages, consisting of dead yeast and precipitated parts of the fruit) · cy gwaelodion (the sediment that settles during fermentation of beverages, consisting of dead yeast and precipitated parts of the fruit) · pl osad (the sediment that settles during fermentation of beverages, consisting of dead yeast and precipitated parts of the fruit) · fi sakka (the sediment that settles during fermentation of beverages, consisting of dead yeast and precipitated parts of the fruit) · es heces (the sediment that settles during fermentation of beverages, consisting of dead yeast and precipitated parts of the fruit) · lt drum̃zlės (the sediment that settles during fermentation of beverages, consisting of dead yeast and precipitated parts of the fruit) · is dreggjar (the sediment that settles during fermentation of beverages, consisting of dead yeast and precipitated parts of the fruit) · is botnfall (the sediment that settles during fermentation of beverages, consisting of dead yeast and precipitated parts of the fruit) · it feccia (the sediment that settles during fermentation of beverages, consisting of dead yeast and precipitated parts of the fruit) · es hez (the sediment that settles during fermentation of beverages, consisting of dead yeast and precipitated parts of the fruit) · grc τρύξ (the sediment that settles during fermentation of beverages, consisting of dead yeast and precipitated parts of the fruit) · ru оса́док (the sediment that settles during fermentation of beverages, consisting of dead yeast and precipitated parts of the fruit) · fr lie (the sediment that settles during fermentation of beverages, consisting of dead yeast and precipitated parts of the fruit) · eo feĉo (the sediment that settles during fermentation of beverages, consisting of dead yeast and precipitated parts of the fruit) · ca pòsit (the sediment that settles during fermentation of beverages, consisting of dead yeast and precipitated parts of the fruit) · ga dríodar (the sediment that settles during fermentation of beverages, consisting of dead yeast and precipitated parts of the fruit) · la floces (the sediment that settles during fermentation of beverages, consisting of dead yeast and precipitated parts of the fruit) · ja 澱 (the sediment that settles during fermentation of beverages, consisting of dead yeast and precipitated parts of the fruit) · hu alja (the sediment that settles during fermentation of beverages, consisting of dead yeast and precipitated parts of the fruit) · ga moirt (the sediment that settles during fermentation of beverages, consisting of dead yeast and precipitated parts of the fruit)