# leach

> English word · Noun · IPA /liːt͡ʃ/ · frequency rank #20,983

## Definitions
1. A quantity of wood ashes, through which water passes, and thus imbibes the alkali.
2. A tub or vat for leaching ashes, bark, etc.
3. Alternative spelling of leech.
4. A jelly-like sweetmeat popular in the fifteenth century.

## Etymology
From Middle English leche (“leachate; sluggish stream”), from Old English *lǣċ, *lǣċe (“muddy stream”), from Proto-Germanic *lēkijō (“a leak, drain, flow”)
(compare Proto-Germanic *lekaną (“to leak, drain”)), from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- (“to leak”).
Cognate with Old English leċċan (“to water, moisten”), Old English lacu (“stream, pool, pond”). More at leak, lake.

## Easily confused with
- **Leh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leach-vs-leh)
- **lead** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leach-vs-lead)
- **leaf** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leach-vs-leaf)
- **lean** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leach-vs-lean)
- **leak** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leach-vs-leak)
- **leap** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leach-vs-leap)
- **Leah** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leach-vs-leah)
- **loch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leach-vs-loch)
- **lear** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leach-vs-lear)
- **least** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leach-vs-least)
- **leave** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leach-vs-leave)
- **learn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leach-vs-learn)
- **lunch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leach-vs-lunch)
- **leads** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leach-vs-leads)
- **lease** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leach-vs-lease)
- **lynch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leach-vs-lynch)
- **leaks** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leach-vs-leaks)
- **leigh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leach-vs-leigh)
- **leafs** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leach-vs-leafs)
- **leash** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leach-vs-leash)

## Common misspellings (7)
`elach`, `laech`, `leacch`, `leachh`, `leahc`, `lecah`, `lleach`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/leach