leg

leg

synonyms, antonyms, definitions, examples & translations of leg in English

English Online Dictionary. What means leg‎? What does leg mean?

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English leg, legge, from Old Norse leggr (“leg, calf, bone of the arm or leg, hollow tube, stalk”), from Proto-Germanic *lagjaz, *lagwijaz (“leg, thigh”) (see it for more).

Cognate with Scots leg (“leg”), Icelandic leggur (“leg, limb”), Norwegian Bokmål legg (“leg”), Norwegian Nynorsk legg (“leg”), Swedish lägg (“leg, shank, shaft”), Danish læg (“leg”), Lombardic lagi (“thigh, shank, leg”), Latin lacertus (“limb, arm”), Persian لنگ (leng). Upon borrowing, mostly displaced the native Old English term sċanca (Modern English shank).

Pronunciation

  • (UK, US) IPA(key): /lɛɡ/
  • (some US dialects) IPA(key): /leɪɡ/
  • Rhymes: -ɛɡ

Noun

leg (plural legs)

  1. A limb or appendage that an animal uses for support or locomotion on land.
  2. In humans, the lower limb extending from the groin to the ankle.
  3. (anatomy) The portion of the lower limb of a human that extends from the knee to the ankle.
  4. A part of garment, such as a pair of trousers/pants, that covers a leg.
  5. A rod-like protrusion from an inanimate object, such as a piece of furniture, supporting it from underneath.
  6. (figurative) Something that supports.
  7. A stage of a journey, race etc.
  8. (nautical) A distance that a sailing vessel does without changing the sails from one side to the other.
  9. (nautical) One side of a multiple-sided (often triangular) course in a sailing race.
  10. (sports) A single game or match played in a tournament or other sporting contest.
  11. (geometry) One of the two sides of a right triangle that is not the hypotenuse.
  12. (geometry) One of the two equal sides of an isosceles triangle.
  13. (geometry) One of the branches of a hyperbola or other curve which extend outward indefinitely.
  14. (usually in the plural) The ability of something to persist or succeed over a long period of time.
  15. (UK, slang, archaic) A disreputable sporting character; a blackleg.
  16. An extension of a steam boiler downward, in the form of a narrow space between vertical plates, sometimes nearly surrounding the furnace and ash pit, and serving to support the boiler; called also water leg.
  17. In a grain elevator, the case containing the lower part of the belt which carries the buckets.
  18. (cricket, attributive) Denotes the half of the field on the same side as the batsman's legs; the left side for a right-handed batsman.
    Synonym: on; Antonym: off
  19. (telephony) A branch or lateral circuit connecting an instrument with the main line.
  20. (electrical) A branch circuit; one phase of a polyphase system.
  21. (finance) An underlying instrument of a derivatives strategy.
  22. (US, slang, military) An army soldier assigned to a paratrooper unit who has not yet been qualified as a paratrooper.
  23. (archaic) A gesture of submission; a bow or curtsey. Chiefly in phrase make a leg.
  24. (journalism) A column, as a unit of length of text as laid out.
  25. Synonym of leg up (“forming a step for a person's feet with one's hands”)
  26. (gambling) An individual bet in a parlay (a series of bets where the stake and winnings are cumulatively carried forward).
Alternative forms
  • legge (obsolete)
Synonyms
  • (part of garment that covers a leg): pant leg, pantleg (Canada, US)
  • (side of a right triangle): cathetus
Derived terms
Descendants
  • → Finnish: legi
  • → Hungarian: leg
Translations
See also

Verb

leg (third-person singular simple present legs, present participle legging, simple past and past participle legged)

  1. To remove the legs from an animal carcass.
  2. To build legs onto a platform or stage for support.
  3. To put a series of three or more options strikes into the stock market.
  4. To apply force using the leg (as in 'to leg a horse').
Derived terms

References

Etymology 2

Noun

leg (plural not attested)

  1. Alternative spelling of leg.

Adjective

leg (not comparable)

  1. Alternative spelling of leg.

Further reading

  • leg on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
  • human leg on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
  • “leg”, in Collins English Dictionary.
  • “leg”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  • “leg”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
  • “leg”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.

Anagrams

  • lge, ELG, ElG, LGE, gel

Aromanian

Alternative forms

  • legu

Etymology

From Latin ligō. Compare Romanian lega, leg.

Verb

leg first-singular present indicative (second-person singular present indicative ledz, third-person singular present indicative leadzi or leadze, second-person plural present indicative ligats, past participle ligatã)

  1. to tie, bind

Related terms

  • ligari / ligare
  • ligat
  • ligãturã
  • ligãmintu
  • dizleg

See also

  • adun
  • mpriunedz

Danish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈlɑjˀ]
  • Homophone: lej
  • Rhymes: -aj

Etymology 1

From Old Norse leikr, from Proto-Germanic *laikaz.

Noun

leg c (singular definite legen, plural indefinite lege)

  1. play, game
  2. (zoology) spawning (fish)
Inflection

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

leg

  1. imperative of lege

Dupaningan Agta

Noun

leg

  1. neck; throat

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /lɛx/
  • Hyphenation: leg
  • Rhymes: -ɛx
  • Homophone: Leg

Etymology 1

Deverbal from leggen (“to lay”).

Noun

leg m (uncountable)

  1. The act or process of laying something, particularly eggs.
Derived terms

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

leg

  1. inflection of leggen:
    1. first-person singular present indicative
    2. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
    3. imperative

Anagrams

  • gel

German

Alternative forms

  • lege

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /leːk/

Verb

leg

  1. (colloquial) first-person singular present of legen
  2. singular imperative of legen
  3. (colloquial) first-person singular subjunctive I of legen
  4. (colloquial) third-person singular subjunctive I of legen

Hungarian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈlɛɡ]
  • Hyphenation: leg
  • Rhymes: -ɛɡ

Etymology 1

Back-formation from leg- (prefix forming superlative adjectives).

Noun

leg (plural legek)

  1. (chiefly in the plural, informal) best, most (record-setting achievement, property or amount)
    a labdarúgás legjei ― the best [achievements] of football
    a legek legje (singular) ― the best of the best
Declension

Etymology 2

From English leg (“single game or match played in a tournament”).

Noun

leg (plural legek)

  1. (darts) leg (single game played in darts)
Declension

Icelandic

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /lɛːɣ/
  • Rhymes: -ɛːɣ

Noun

leg n (genitive singular legs, nominative plural leg)

  1. uterus

Declension

Derived terms

  • leggöng
  • legháls
  • leghálssýking
  • legnám

Lombard

Etymology 1

Akin to Italian legge, from Latin lex.

Noun

leg

  1. law

Etymology 2

Akin to Italian leggere, from Latin legere.

Verb

leg

  1. to read

Middle English

Alternative forms

  • legge, leggue, leige, lige

Etymology

From Old Norse leggr, from Proto-Germanic *lagjaz.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /lɛɡ/

Noun

leg (plural legges)

  1. leg, limb
  2. shank, shin
  3. leg (cut of meat)
  4. leg armour
  5. The stem of a wine glass

Descendants

  • English: leg
    • → Finnish: legi
    • → Hungarian: leg
  • Scots: leg

References

  • “leg, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-05.

Norwegian Bokmål

Verb

leg

  1. imperative of lege

Old English

Noun

lēġ m

  1. Alternative form of līeġ

Old Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *legʰ-. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Noun

leg n

  1. burial place

Declension

Derived terms

  • legkaup n (“burial fee”)
  • legstaðr m (“burial place”)
  • legsteinn m (“tombstone”)

References

  • “leg”, in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Polish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈlɛk/
  • Rhymes: -ɛk
  • Syllabification: leg
  • Homophones: lek, Lek

Noun

leg

  1. genitive plural of lega

Romanian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [leɡ]

Verb

leg

  1. first-person singular present indicative/subjunctive of lega

Swedish

Alternative forms

  • legg

Adjective

leg

  1. certified, authorized; indicating an authorized medical doctor, not a quack. Abbreviation of legitimerad.

Noun

leg n

  1. (colloquial) an ID card or other means of identification showing the owner's age; an ID; abbreviation of legitimation.

Declension

Derived terms

  • falskleg (“fake ID”)

See also

  • lägg

Anagrams

  • elg

Torres Strait Creole

Etymology

From English leg.

Noun

leg

  1. lower leg, foot

Synonyms

  • ngar (western dialect)

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This article based on an article on Wiktionary. The list of authors can be seen in the page history there. The original work has been modified. This article is distributed under the terms of this license.