Lee. (1) (In O. Eng. hléo; cf. the pronunciation lew-ward of “leeward”; the word appears in several Teutonic languages; cf. Dutch lij, Dan. lae), properly a shelter or protection, chiefly used as a nautical term for that side of a ship, land, &c., which is farthest from the wind, hence a “lee shore,” land under the lee of a ship, i.e. one on which the wind blows directly and which is unsheltered. A ship is said to make “leeway” when she drifts laterally away from her course. (2) A word now always used in the plural “lees,” meaning dregs, sediment, particularly of wine. It comes through the O. Fr. lie from a Gaulish Lat. lia, and is probably of Celtic origin.
Lee
