English

Proper noun

Lek

1. The northern arm of the River Rhine in the Netherlands

Anagrams

• elk

English

Alternative forms

• laike (Yorkshire)

Noun

lek ‎(plural leks)

1. (biology) An aggregation of male animals for the purposes of courtship and display.
   • 1975, Edward O. Wilson, Sociobiology: The New Synthesis, figure caption, 2000, page 333,

     Each of the three displaying cocks occupies a small territory at the mating center of the lek.

   • 1997, John Kricher, A Neotropical Companion, ISBN 0-691-00974-0, page 278:

     Given that a combination of factors have "released" males from attending nests, why have some species organized their courtship bouts in leks, especially the tightly clumped leks that are typical of manakins and cocks-of-the-rock?

   • 2007, Kentwood D. Wells, The Ecology and Behavior of Amphibians, page 352,

     Nevertheless, it does appear that many of the processes of mate choice and sexual selection described for bird and mammal leks also apply to anuran choruses.

Translations

Verb

lek ‎(third-person singular simple present leks, present participle lekking, simple past and past participle lekked)

1. (biology) To take part in the courtship and display behaviour of a lek.
   • 1994, M. B. Andersson, Sexual Selection, page 164,

     Males in many lekking species have conspicuous morphological ornaments that may be targets of female choice, but male contest competition may also be involved.

   • 2000, George Barlow, The Cichlid Fishes: Nature's Grand Experiment In Evolution, page 79,

     The second reason lekking is so fascinating is because the males aggregate.

   • 2010, Boaz Yuval, Jorge Hendrichs 17: Behavior of Fruit Fly in the Genus Ceratitis (Dacinae: Ceratitidini), Martin Aluja, Allen Norrbom (editors), Fruit Flies (Tephritidae): Phylogeny and Evolution of Behavior, page 437,

     In a recent study (Yuval et al. 1998), the size and weight of males captured either lekking or resting at the same time in the vicinity of leks were measured.

   • 2010, Robert Michael Pyle, Mariposa Road: The First Butterfly Big Year, unnumbered page,

     Half a dozen of the thumbnail-size males lekked in a sunny glade.

2. (Britain, dialect, Yorkshire, colloquial) To play.

   T’lads are lekkin in t’park.

Translations

Usage notes

The Yorkshire dialect word is rarely written and is pronounced differently in the different Ridings of Yorkshire. Compare laik, layk.

Etymology 2

From Albanian lek, named after Alexander the Great, whose name is often shortened to Leka in Albanian.

Noun

lek ‎(plural leks or leku or lekë)

1. The currency unit of Albania, divided into 100 qindarka.
   • 1992, Mario I. Bléjer, Albania: From Isolation Toward Reform, page 56,

     With the loss of control by the Government over foreign exchange surrender requirements and the almost complete depletion of foreign exchange reserves, in early 1992 the official rate was further devalued to leks 50 = $1.

   • 1997, Igor Artimiev, Gary J. Fine, Country Studies: Albania, Ira W. Lieberman, Stilpon S. Nestor, Raj M. Desai, Between State and Market: Mass Privatization in Transition Economies, page 178,

     Enterprise shares are sold at voucher auctions in exchange for either immaterial privatization leks (through a bank transfer from the bidder's privatization lek account) or through privatization vouchers, which are submitted at the time of bidding.

   • 2003, Iraj Hoshi, Ewa Balcerowicz, Leszek Balcerowicz, Barriers to Entry and Growth of New Firms in Early Transition, page 253,

     Value Added Tax is another tax imposed on all enterprises with a yearly turnover of more than 2 million Leks. VAT was introduced in the Albanian tax system in 1995 replacing the old turnover tax.

Translations

Anagrams

• elk

Albanian

Etymology

Named after Alexander the Great, whose name is often shortened to Leka in Albanian.

Noun

lek m (indefinite plural lekë, definite singular leku)

1. lek (the currency unit of Albania)

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɛk

Noun

lek n ‎(plural lekken, diminutive lekje n)

1. leak

Adjective

lek ‎(comparative lekker, superlative lekst)

1. leaky

Inflection

Verb

lek

1. first-person singular present indicative of lekken
2. imperative of lekken

Anagrams

• elk

Lojban

Rafsi

lek

1. rafsi of lenku.

Norwegian Bokmål

Verb

lek

1. imperative of leke

Polish

Etymology 1

From Proto-Slavic *lěkъ.

Noun

lek m inan

1. medicine

Declension

Synonyms

• lekarstwo

Etymology 2

From Albanian lek

Noun

lek m anim

1. lek (currency)

Declension

Samoan Plantation Pidgin

Etymology

From English leg.

Noun

lek

1. leg, foot (of a human)
2. limb (of an animal)

References

• Ulrike Mosel, Tolai and Tok Pisin: the influence of the substratum on the development of New Guinea Pidgin (1980)

Serbo-Croatian

Alternative forms

• (Ijekavian): lijȇk

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *lěkъ, borrowed from Gothic 𐌻𐌴𐌺𐌴𐌹𐍃 ‎(lekeis, “physician”)^[1]. Compare Old Norse læknir, Old High German lahhi, Danish læge.

Noun

lȇk m ‎(Cyrillic spelling ле̑к)

1. medicine

Declension

Related Terms

1. ljèkārna
2. liječnik/lečnik

References

1. ↑ Petar Skok, Etimologijski rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika, Z., 1971, v. 2, p. 296: Obično se uzimlje da je praslavenska riječ posuđena iz gotske radne imenice lekeis

Slovene

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈléːk/
• Tonal orthography: lẹ̑k

Noun

lék m inan ‎(genitive léka, uncountable)

1. medicine

Declension

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse leikr.

Pronunciation

Noun

lek c

1. child's play; typically denotes pleasurable and less rule-bound games and activities
2. deck of cards

Declension

Related terms

• barnlek
• kortlek
• kärlek
• lekfull
• leksak

Verb

lek

1. imperative of leka. free play

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English leg.

Noun

lek

1. leg, foot
   • 1989, Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin, Bible Society of Papua New Guinea, Genesis 3:15 (translation here):

     Na bai mi mekim yu i stap birua bilong meri, na meri i stap birua bilong yu. Na bai mi mekim ol lain bilong yu i birua long lain bilong meri. Bai ol i krungutim het bilong yu, na bai yu kaikaim lek bilong ol.”

2. footprint
3. hindleg (of an animal)

References

• Ulrike Mosel, Tolai and Tok Pisin: the influence of the substratum on the development of New Guinea Pidgin (1980)

Tzotzil

Pronunciation

• (Zinacantán) IPA^(key): /lɛkʰ/

Adjective

lek

1. good

Antonyms

• chopol

Derived terms

(Verbal phrases)

• leklek ba

References

• Laughlin, Robert M. (1975) The Great Tzotzil Dictionary of San Lorenzo Zinacantán. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press.