# lye

> English word · Noun · IPA /laɪ/ · frequency rank #40,787

## Definitions
1. An alkaline liquid made by leaching ashes (usually wood ashes).
2. Potassium or sodium hydroxide (caustic soda).

## Etymology
From Middle English leye, lye, from Old English lēah, lēag (“lye”), from Proto-West Germanic *laugu, from Proto-Germanic *laugō, from Proto-Indo-European *lewh₃- (“to wash”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Loge, Looie (“lye”), Dutch loog (“lye”), German Low German Loge, Loje, Loog (“lye”), German Lauge (“lye”).
Compare typologically Ancient Greek ῥύμμα (rhúmma) < ῥύπτω (rhúptō, “to cleanse, to wash”).

## Easily confused with
- **LZ** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lye-vs-lz)
- **lyn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lye-vs-lyn)
- **Lynn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lye-vs-lynn)
- **Lyon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lye-vs-lyon)
- **Lyle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lye-vs-lyle)
- **Lyme** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lye-vs-lyme)
- **Lyft** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lye-vs-lyft)
- **lynx** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lye-vs-lynx)
- **lyra** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lye-vs-lyra)
- **lyre** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lye-vs-lyre)
- **l** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/l-vs-lye)
- **LA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/la-vs-lye)
- **le** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/le-vs-lye)
- **li** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/li-vs-lye)
- **Lt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lt-vs-lye)
- **lo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lo-vs-lye)
- **lb** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lb-vs-lye)
- **LP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lp-vs-lye)
- **LN** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ln-vs-lye)
- **Ls** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ls-vs-lye)

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