From corruption of French louis, from Louis, presumably Louis IX or Louis XI, who issued gold écus.
Meanings
(Scotland, obsolete) A French gold coin circulated in 15th-century Scotland.
...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... 1467, Scottish Acts of James III, Vol. II, p. 88
From Middle English lew, lewe, from Old English *hlēowe, *hlīewe (attested adverbially in hlēowe (“warmly”) and as ġehlēowe, ġehlīewe (“warm, sunny, sheltered”), unhlēowe (“not warm, chill”)), from Proto-West Germanic *hliwi, from Proto-Germanic *hliwjaz, *hlēwaz (“warm, lukewarm”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱal(w)e-, *ḱlēw- (“warm, hot”). Cognate with Old Norse hlýr (“warm, mild”), ( > Danish ly (“lukewarm”)), hlær, German lau, which are themselves akin to Old Norse hlé (“lee”), Danish læ (“shelter”). Compare lee.
Meanings
(obsolete) Sunny; warm.
(dialectal) Lukewarm, tepid.
(dialectal) Alee: protected from the wind.
His house... was ‘loo’ from the cold north winds. 1892, H. C. O'Neill, Devonshire Idyls, page 7:
Lee or Lew, Calm, under the wind. Suss. 1674, J. Ray, "South & East Countrey Words" in Coll. Eng. Words, p. 70
From Middle English lew, lewe, from Old English *hlēowe, *hlīewe (attested adverbially in hlēowe (“warmly”) and as ġehlēowe, ġehlīewe (“warm, sunny, sheltered”), unhlēowe (“not warm, chill”)), from Proto-West Germanic *hliwi, from Proto-Germanic *hliwjaz, *hlēwaz (“warm, lukewarm”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱal(w)e-, *ḱlēw- (“warm, hot”). Cognate with Old Norse hlýr (“warm, mild”), ( > Danish ly (“lukewarm”)), hlær, German lau, which are themselves akin to Old Norse hlé (“lee”), Danish læ (“shelter”). Compare lee.
Meanings
(Scotland) Warmth, heat.
To th' end a fruitfull lew
May euerie Climate in his time renew. 1605, J. Sylvester translating G. de S. Du Bartas as Deuine Weekes & Wks, Book i, Ch. iv, p. 136
(dialectal) A shelter from the wind, particularly temporary structures raised by shepherds to protect their flocks.
Lew, a thatched hurdle, supported by sticks, and set up in a field to screen lambs, etc. from the wind. 1887, W. D. Parish & al., Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect
Lew, shelter; defence from storms or wind. 1825, J. Jennings, Observ. Dial. W. Eng., p. 52
From Middle English lew, lewe, from Old English *hlēowe, *hlīewe (attested adverbially in hlēowe (“warmly”) and as ġehlēowe, ġehlīewe (“warm, sunny, sheltered”), unhlēowe (“not warm, chill”)), from Proto-West Germanic *hliwi, from Proto-Germanic *hliwjaz, *hlēwaz (“warm, lukewarm”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱal(w)e-, *ḱlēw- (“warm, hot”). Cognate with Old Norse hlýr (“warm, mild”), ( > Danish ly (“lukewarm”)), hlær, German lau, which are themselves akin to Old Norse hlé (“lee”), Danish læ (“shelter”). Compare lee.
Meanings
(transitive) To make warm or lukewarm.
(intransitive, obsolete) To become warm.
(transitive) To shelter from the wind.
Lew... Those trees will lew the house when they're up-grown. 1887, W. D. Parish & al., Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect
Uncertain, but compare Old English ġelewed (“weakness, infirmity”) and limlǣweo (“limb-weak, lame”). Possibly related to Proto-Germanic *laiwą (“damage”); compare Old Norse læ (“venom, bane”).
Meanings
Weak.
Sickly-looking, pale, wan.
Mi bodi wexit lewe. c. 1325, "Old Age" in T. Wright & al.'s 1845 Reliquiae Antiquae, Vol. II, p. 211
hence bot a litill / she commys, lew, lew! / shy bryngys in her bill / som novels new; / Behald! / It is of an olif tre / A branch, thynkys me. 15th c., “Processus Noe cum filiis [Noah and the Ark]”, in Wakefield Mystery Plays; Re-edited in George England, Alfred W. Pollard, editors, The Towneley Plays (Early English Text Society Extra Series; LXXI), London: […] Oxford University Press, 1897, →OCLC, page 38, lines 507–510: