Standard Lemma guide

leed

name · noun · verb · 10 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • lēd
  • /liːd/
  • rhymes with -iːd
  • homophone: lead
  • homophone: lede
  • homophone: lied
  • CMU ARPABET: L IY1 D Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

name

Meaning 1

Acronym of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, a system to categorise the level of environmentally sustainable construction in sustainable buildings.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: abbreviation, acronym, alt-of

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Language; tongue.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Northern-England, Scotland, UK, dialectal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A national tongue (in contrast to a foreign language).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Scotland, UK, dialectal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

The speech of a person, echelon of persons, or class of persons; form of speech; talk; utterance; manner of speaking or writing; phraseology; diction.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Scotland, UK, dialectal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

A strain in a rhyme, song, or poem; refrain; flow.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Scotland, UK, dialectal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

A constant or repeated line or verse; theme.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Scotland, UK, dialectal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

Patter; rigmarole.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Scotland, UK, dialectal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

noun

Meaning 8

Alternative spelling of lede (“a man; a person”).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Scotland, UK, alt-of, alternative, dialectal, obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

noun

Meaning 9

Acronym of low-energy electron diffraction.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

10

verb

Meaning 10

Obsolete spelling of lead (“to guide”).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Scotland, UK, alt-of, dialectal, obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Middle English lede, shortened variant of leden (“language”), from Old English lēoden (“popular or national language, native tongue”), from Old English lēod (“people, nation”). Cognate with Scots leed (“language”). More at lede.

From Middle English lede, led, leod, variant of Middle English leth, leoth (“song, poem”), from Old English lēoþ (“song, poem, ode, lay, verse”), from Proto-Germanic *leuþą (“song, lay, praise”), from Proto-Indo-European *lēw- (“to sound, resound, sing out”). Cognate with Dutch lied (“song”) and German Lied (“song”), whence the English doublet lied.

See lede.

See lead.