Forms: α. 1 hléo, 4 leȝ, leo, 4–6 le, 5 legh, 5–6 lie, 7 lay, ley, 7, 9 lea, 4– lee. β. 1 hléow, 3 leouwe, 5 lue, 8 dial. loo, 9 dial. lew. [OE. hléo (gen. hleowes) str. neut. or masc., cognate with OFris. hli, hly, OS. hleo neut. or masc., hlea fem., shelter, ON. hlé neut., ‘lee’ in the nautical sense (Sw. lä, Da. læ):—OTeut. *hlewo-, whence *hlewjo-, *hliujo- in ON. hlý neut., shelter, warmth, hlýja to protect. The word is also found as a nautical term in Du. lij, MLG. lê (whence G. lee); the history of these forms is not clear.
The OTeut. *hlewo- has no known cognates outside Teut. The Goth. hlija tent, is prob. unconnected.
It is not necessary to suppose that the nautical use in Eng. is of Scandinavian origin, though it is not recorded in OE.: the form lee might be either from OE. or ON., but the unequivocally native forms lue, lew are found in the nautical use.]
I. 1. Protection, shelter, rarely pl. Also in phrases in, under (the) lee (of) both in material and immaterial senses. † Also, a resting-place.
a. 900. Cynewulf, Crist, 605. Weder liþe under sweʓles hleo.
c. 1000. Ags. Ps. cviii. 10. Þonne hi to his huse hleowes wilnian.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 368. Mid festen, mid wechchen … mid herd weriunge, herd leouwe.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 23326. Þat þai þe sorfuller sal be Þat losen folili has þat le.
13[?]. E. E. Allit. P., C. 277. Þenne he lurkkes & laytes where watz le best.
a. 1375. Lay Folks Mass Bk., App. iv. 62. Þen most Merci … lenge wiþ vs in leo and lede.
a. 1400[?]. Morte Arth., 1446. We lurkede undyr lee as lowrande wreches!
1513. Douglas, Æneis, VII. Prol. 79. The silly scheip and thair lytill hyrd gromis Lurkis vndir le of bankis.
1596. Dalrymple, trans. Leslie’s Hist. Scot., I. 55. It is a bosum of the Sey, in the ley of a hich montane conteyned.
1624. Capt. Smith, Virginia, II. iii. (Arb.), 446. Our quarter … was onely the open woods under the lay of a hili.
1630. Tinker of Turvey, Sea-Mans T., 100. To come under the lee of wedlock.
a. 1649. Drumm. of Hawth., Cypress Grove, Wks. (1711), 123. Any mariner … arriving near the shoar, would … joyfully enter the lees of a safe harbour.
1654. H. L’Estrange, Chas. I. (1655), 96. Sheltered under the Lee of Royal favour.
1821. J. W. Croker, Diary (1884), 3 June. He wishes to have Peel under his lee.
1847. G. Mitchell, Fresh Gleanings (1851), 223. Cameron was thinking of Rob Roy’s cave under the Lea of Ben Lomond.
1863. J. R. Wise, New Forest, 193. The labourer still sits under the lew … of the hedge.
1873. G. C. Davies, Mount. & Mere, xiii. 101. There he is under the lee of the opposite bank.
1901. Speaker, 5 Jan., 375/2. Under the lee of the Turkish guns.
b. dial. Something constructed as a shelter.
1791. Pegge, Derbicisms, Ser. II. Lee, shelter; a Sheep-lee, a wall on the moors for the sheep to stand under in bad weather.
1794. Annals Agric., XXII. 273 (E. D. S.). Looes or frames … are fixed all round the kiln.
1887. Kent Gloss. Lees, a row of trees planted to shelter a hop-garden. Ibid., Lew, a thatched hurdle, supported by sticks, and set up in a field to screen lambs, etc. from the wind.
2. Chiefly Naut. The sheltered side of any object; hence the side (of a ship, the land, an eminence, etc.) that is turned away from the wind. Frequent in beneath, under the lee (of).
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 2806. Paris … Shot into ship with shene men of Armys; Lausit loupis fro the le.
1556. W. Towrson, in Hakluyt, Voy. (1589), 99. The 12. day we saw a saile vnder our Lee.
1583. Leg. Bp. St. Androis, Pref. 104. He lattis his scheip tak in at luife and lie.
1590. Greene, Never too Late (1600), 43. He that at euery gust puts to the Lee, shall neuer be good Nauigator.
1591. Harington, Orl. Fur., X. xvi. They bore To come within the lue of Scottish banke.
1595. Maynarde, Drake’s Voy. (Hakl. Soc.), 8. Becalmed under the lee of the land.
1627. Capt. Smith, Seaman’s Gram., xiii. 63. They are to come vnder the Lee of the Admirall to salute him.
1667. Milton, P. L., I. 207. The Pilot … Moors by his side under the Lee.
1720. De Foe, Capt. Singleton, xvi. (1840), 274. We run in as much under the lee of the point as we could.
1762. Falconer, Shipwr., II. 798. For rocky shores beneath our lee appear.
1814. Scott, Ld. of Isles, I. xxiv. Beneath the Castle’s sheltering lee, They staid their course in quiet sea.
1819. Byron, Juan, II. xlv. A tight boat will live in a rough sea, Unless with breakers close beneath her lee.
1855. O. W. Holmes, Poems, 164. She rends the clinging sea, That flies before the roaring wind, Beneath her hissing lee.
1860. Tyndall, Glac., I. xxi. 146. Against … the Matterhorn the vapour was chilled and precipitated in his lee.
1881. Isle of Wight Gloss., Lew, the lee side.
1884. Pae, Eustace, 129. The lieutenant sails as smooth as a pinnace under his lee.
b. Nautical phrases. † At lee: (a) windbound; (b) under shelter. † (To bring, fall) by the lee: to leeward; also fig. † (To bring, lay, lie) upon the lee: with sails aback. On, under (the) lee: to leeward = ALEE.
1597. J. Payne, Royal Exch., 33. The ship on hull, the helme on lee.
1607. Marston, What You Will, II. i. Wks. 1856, I. 238. Shoot him through and through with a jest; make him lye by the lee.
1611. Cotgr., Bouter vent en penne, to bring a ship vpon the Lee.
a. 1618. Raleigh, Apol., 7. The Thunder … by the negligence of her Master, was at Lee in the Thames.
1630. J. Taylor (Water P.), Fight at Sea, Wks. III. 34/2. They … passed from vs to lay their ships by the Lee.
a. 1642. Sir W. Monson, Naval Tracts, V. (1704), 597/1. The Ship lay upon the Lee; and … the Master called with the Whistle to fill the Sails.
1666. Lond. Gaz., No. 59/2. An Hollands Man of War … whom she fought very bravely, and at last brought by the Lee, but had not Men enough to board her. Ibid. (1667), No. 120/1. One of them … was so warmly received with a broadside, that he immediately fell by the Lee.
1692. Capt. Smith’s Seaman’s Gram., I. xvi. 79. A Skip lies by the Lee, that is, has all her sails lying flat against the Masts and Shrouds.
1769. Falconer, Dict. Marine (1780), Z 3. ‘We saw a fleet under the lee,’ and ‘we saw a fleet to leeward,’ are synonymous expressions.
1825. A. Cunningham, ‘A Wet Sheet and a Flowing Sea,’ i. Away the good ship flies, and leaves Old England on the lee.
1887. Bowen, Virg. Æneid, III. 478. Yonder her nearest coast fate wills thee to leave on the lee.
† 3. A sheltered position or condition; hence, calmness, peace, tranquillity. Chiefly in to leng, live, rest in (or on) lee. Also, in lithe of (or on) lee: said of the weather. Obs.
The alliterative phrases, lordings, lordship in lee, may perh. not belong to this sense.
13[?]. Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. (E.E.T.S.), 477/10. Þe Mon þat þenkeþ to liuen in le.
13[?]. Gaw. & Gr. Knt., 849. To lede a lortschyp in lee of leudez ful gode.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xxxviii. (Adrian), 416. Of þe fare nowmir for to be Of haly mene & reste in le.
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 5615. He lengis in lithis & in lee to his lyues ende.
c. 1425. Wyntoun, Cron., VII. x. 3620. Alysandyr … Scotland led in luwe and lé.
c. 1460. Emare, 348. The wedur was lythe of le.
c. 1470. Golagros & Gaw., 341. Lordingis in le, I rede ye tent treuly to my teching.
c. 1470. Henryson, Mor. Fab., XIII. (Frog & Mouse), xxii. Better but stryfe allane to leif in le.
1535. Stewart, Cron. Scot. (1858), II. 128. Amang thair freindis for to leve in lie.
a. 1650. Turke & Gowin, 47, in Furnivall, Percy Folio, I. 92, will neuer flee from noe aduenture … whilst I may liue on lee.
II. attrib. and Comb.
4. Simple attributive, passing into adj. a. Indicating that an object is on the lee-side of a vessel, or to leeward of some other object, e.g., lee-bowline, -division, -gunwale, -scupper, etc.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, V. i. 30. Himself infangis the le scheit of the saill.
1626. Capt. Smith, Accid. Yng. Sea-men, 28. Make ready your loufe howks and ley fagnes.
1669. Sturmy, Mariner’s Mag., I. 16. Let go the Lee-Bowling of Fore-sail, and Weather-Braces. Ibid., 18. Set in the Lee-Braces.
1726. G. Roberts, Four Years Voy., 291. They could help to stay her with a Lee Oar.
1748. Anson’s Voy., II. iv. 163. The Commodore ordered them to bring to under his lee-quarter.
1751. Smollett, Per. Pic. (1779), II. lxiv. 209. He commanded the men to carry the vessel’s lee-gunwale under water.
1805. Log of H. M. S. Mars, 21 Oct., in Nicolas, Nelson’s Disp., VII. 165, note. At daylight saw the Enemy’s Fleet on our lee-beam. Ibid., 166, note. At 9.5 answered Victory’s signal for the Mars to lead the lee division.
1823. J. F. Cooper, Pioneer, xv. (1869), 66/2. Hauling in the slack of the lee-sheet.
1833. Marryat, P. Simple, xii. O’Brien … told me never to mind, but to keep in the lee-scuppers. Ibid., xv. She careened over so that her lee channels were under the water. Ibid. (1835), Pacha, v. We descried land on the lee beam.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., Lee-fang, a rope rove through the cringle of a sail, for hauling in, so as to lace on a bonnet. Ibid., Lee-gunwale under, a colloquial phrase for being sorely over-pressed, by canvas or other cause.
1893. F. M. Crawford, Children of King, I. 9. You would rather reef top-sails—aye, and take the lee earing, too, in any gale and a score of times, than breast that mountain.
1897. R. Kipling, Captains Courageous, 188. She cuddled her lee-rail down to the crashing blue.
b. Implying motion to leeward.
1726. G. Roberts, Four Years Voy., 120. The Lee-Tide being made, I fell short by half a League.
1790. Beatson, Nav. & Mil. Mem., I. 157. The strong lee current.
1848. Craig, Lee lurch, a sudden and violent roll of a ship to leeward in a high sea, when a large wave strikes her on the weather side.
1859. R. H. Dana, Cuba & Back, i. 7. The delightful rise and fall of the bows, and leisurely weather roll and lee roll, cradle and nurse one to sleep.
5. Special combs.: lee-anchor (see quot.); lee-bow, the bow of a vessel that is turned away from the wind; hence lee-bow vb., to run under the lee bow of; fig. to take advantage of; lee-gage (see GAUGE 5); lee-hatch, -hitch (see quots.); lee-latch, ‘dropping to leeward of the course’ (Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., 1867); lee-most a., furthest to leeward; lee-port, a sheltered port; lee-wheel, ‘the assistant to the helmsman’ (Adm. Smyth). Also LEE-BOARD1, LEE-SHORE, LEE-SIDE.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., *Lee-anchor, the leeward one, if under weigh; or that to leeward to which a ship, when moored, is riding.
1697. Dampier, Voy., I. 100. Some of them appeared on our Weather-bow, some on our *Lee-bow.
1840. R. H. Dana, Bef. Mast, xxv. 83. The anchor on the lee bow had worked loose.
1893. Outing (U.S.), XXII. 96/1. Hauling her close on the wind so that she would ‘lee-bow’ the tide.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., s.v., Take care of the *Lee hatch, a word of caution to the helmsman, not to let the ship fall to leeward of her course. Ibid., *Lee-hitch, the helmsman getting to leeward of the course.
1721. Bailey, *Lee-latch, (Sea Phrase) have a care of the Lee-Latch, i. e. keep the Ship near the Wind.
1622. R. Hawkins, Voy. S. Sea (1847), 17. The vice-admirall and her consort … were *lee-most and stern-most of all.
1804. Capt. Owen, in Naval Chron., XII. 132. The leemost Brigs began to get under weigh.
a. 1649. Drumm. of Hawth., Cypress Grove, Wks. (1711), 125. Lords and gods of this earth, sleeping in the *lee-port of honour.
Hence Lee v. rare–1, trans., to put (the helm) a-lee. See A-LEE.
1659. Davenant, Hist. Sir F. Drake, ii. 13. The Master alowd bids, Lee the Helm, Lee!
