# leek

> English word · Noun · IPA /liːk/ · frequency rank #34,158

## Definitions
1. A vegetable of variety Allium ampeloprasum, having edible leaves and an onion-like bulb but with a milder flavour than the onion.
2. Any of several species of Allium, broadly resembling the domesticated plant in appearance in the wild.

## Etymology
From Middle English leke, leek, lek, from Old English lēac (“a garden herb, leek, onion, garlic”), from Proto-West Germanic *lauk, from Proto-Germanic *lauką *laukaz (“leek, onion”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewg- (“to bend”).
Cognate with Dutch look (“garlic, leek”), German Low German Look (“leek”), German Lauch (“leek, allium”), Danish løg (“onion”), Swedish lök (“onion”), Icelandic laukur (“onion, leek, garlic”). See garlic.

## Easily confused with
- **let** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leek-vs-let)
- **lie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leek-vs-lie)
- **leg** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leek-vs-leg)
- **leo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leek-vs-leo)
- **les** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leek-vs-les)
- **lex** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leek-vs-lex)
- **Len** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leek-vs-len)
- **Lew** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leek-vs-lew)
- **lei** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leek-vs-lei)
- **lev** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leek-vs-lev)
- **ley** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leek-vs-ley)
- **LEM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leek-vs-lem)
- **lye** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leek-vs-lye)
- **Luk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leek-vs-luk)
- **Leh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leek-vs-leh)
- **lel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leek-vs-lel)
- **look** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leek-vs-look)
- **left** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leek-vs-left)
- **less** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leek-vs-less)
- **link** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leek-vs-link)

## Common misspellings (5)
`elek`, `leekk`, `lek`, `leke`, `lleek`

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