Standard Lemma guide

lieu

name · noun · 3 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

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  • /ljuː/
  • /luː/ yod-dropping
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -uː
  • homophone: lew
  • homophone: Liu
  • homophone: lue
  • homophone: loo
  • homophone: Lou
  • homophone: lu (yod-dropping)
  • CMU ARPABET: L UW1 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 2: L Y UW1 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

name

Meaning 1

A surname.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A place or stead.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

the post or function properly or customarily occupied or served by another

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • can you go in my stead?
  • took his place
  • in lieu of

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: stead, position, place

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: function, office, part, role

Narrower terms: behalf

History

Etymology

As a Vietnamese surname, from liễu (“willow tree”).

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *stel-der. Proto-Italic *stlokos? Old Latin stlocus Latin locus Old French leu Middle French lieubor. English lieu Borrowed from Middle French lieu, from Old French leu, from Latin locum, accusative of locus (“place”). Doublet of locus. Attested earlier and in Middle English only as part of the partially calqued phrase in lieu of.