leech

Meanings

Noun

• An aquatic blood-sucking annelid of class Hirudinea, especially Hirudo medicinalis (species).
• A person who derives profit from others in a parasitic fashion.
• A glass tube designed for drawing blood from damaged tissue by means of a vacuum.
• A physician.
• A healer.
• The vertical edge of a square sail.
• The aft edge of a triangular sail.

Verb

• To apply a leech medicinally, so that it sucks blood from the patient.
• To drain (resources) without giving back.
• To treat, cure or heal.

Related

Similar words

• drain
• barber, doctor, physician
• healer
• treat, cure, heal

Origin

• From Middle English leche ("physician"), from Old English lǣċe ("doctor, physician"), from Proto-Germanic *lēkijaz ("doctor"), of disputed origin, but usually thought to be connected with Proto-Celtic (compare Old Irish líaig) and Serbo-Croatian ljèkār, Polish lekarz; perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ-. Cognate with Old Frisian lētza ("physician"), Old Saxon lāki ("physician"), Old High German lāhhi ("doctor, healer"), Danish læge ("doctor, surgeon"), Gothic 𐌻𐌴𐌺𐌴𐌹𐍃 ("physician"), Old Irish líaig ("exorcist, doctor").
• From Middle English lechen ("to cure, heal, treat"), from Middle English leche ("doctor, physician"). Compare Swedish läka ("to heal").
• From Middle English lek, leche, lyche, from Old Norse lík ("leechline"), from Proto-West Germanic *līk, from Proto-Germanic *līką (compare West Frisian lyk ("band"), Dutch lijk ("boltrope"), Middle High German geleich ("joint, limb")), from Proto-Indo-European *leyǵ- ‘to bind’ (compare Latin ligō ("tie, bind"), Ukrainian нали́гати ("to bridle, fetter"), Albanian lidh ("to bind"), Hittite link- (caus. linganu-) ‘to swear’ (with -n- infix).