leg - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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).

leg

leg

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leg (plural legs)

  1. A limb or appendage that an animal uses for support or locomotion on land.
    Insects have six legs.
  2. In humans, the lower limb extending from the groin to the ankle.
    Dan won't be able to come to the party, since he broke his leg last week and is now on crutches.
  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.
    The left leg of these jeans has a tear.
  5. A rod-like protrusion from an inanimate object, such as a piece of furniture, supporting it from underneath.
    the legs of a chair or table
  6. (figurative) Something that supports.
    This observation is an important leg of my argument.
  7. A stage of a journey, race etc.
    After six days, we're finally in the last leg of our cross-country trip.
  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.
  1. (geometry) One of the two sides of a right triangle that is not the hypotenuse.
  2. (geometry) One of the two equal sides of an isosceles triangle.
  3. (geometry) One of the branches of a hyperbola or other curve which extend outward indefinitely.
  4. (usually in the plural) The ability of something to persist or succeed over a long period of time.
    This proposal has no legs. Almost everyone opposes it.
  1. (UK, slang, archaic) A disreputable sporting character; a blackleg.
  2. 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.
  3. In a grain elevator, the case containing the lower part of the belt which carries the buckets.
  4. (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
    Ponsonby-Smythe hit a thumping drive through the leg fielders.
  5. (telephony) A branch or lateral circuit connecting an instrument with the main line.
  6. (electricity) A branch circuit; one phase of a polyphase system.
  7. (finance) An underlying instrument of a derivatives strategy.
  8. (US, slang, military) An army soldier assigned to a paratrooper unit who has not yet been qualified as a paratrooper.
  1. (archaic) A gesture of submission; a bow or curtsey. Chiefly in phrase make a leg.
  1. (journalism) A column, as a unit of length of text as laid out.
  1. Synonym of leg up (“forming a step for a person's feet with one's hands”).
  1. (gambling) An individual bet in a parlay (a series of bets where the stake and winnings are cumulatively carried forward).
  1. (archaic, slang) Synonym of blackleg (“a gambling cheat”).

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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').
  1. ^ “leg”, in Merriam-Webster.com Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

leg (plural not attested)

  1. Alternative spelling of leg..

leg (not comparable)

  1. Alternative spelling of leg..

From Latin ligō. Compare Romanian lega, leg.

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

  1. to tie, bind

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

leg c (singular definite legen, plural indefinite lege)

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

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

leg

  1. imperative of lege

leg

  1. neck; throat

Deverbal from leggen (“to lay”).

leg m (uncountable, no diminutive)

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

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

leg

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

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

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

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

Unadapted borrowing from English leg (“single game or match played in a tournament”).

leg (plural legek)

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

leg n (genitive singular legs, nominative plural **leg)

  1. uterus

Akin to Italian legge, from Latin lex.

leg

  1. law

Akin to Italian leggere, from Latin legere.

leg

  1. to read

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

leg (plural legges)

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

leg

  1. imperative of lege

lēġ m (Anglian, Kentish)

  1. alternative form of līeġ

Strong _i_-stem:

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

leg n

  1. burial place

leg

  1. genitive plural of lega

leg

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

leg (not comparable)

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

leg n

  1. (colloquial) an ID card or other means of identification showing the owner's age; an ID; abbreviation of legitimation
    Jag fick visa leg på systemet.
    I was carded at Systembolaget.

Torres Strait Creole

[edit]

From English leg.

leg

  1. lower leg, foot