leak
English
/liːk/
noun
Definitions
- A crack, crevice, fissure, or hole which admits water or other fluid, or lets it escape.
- The entrance or escape of a fluid through a crack, fissure, or other aperture.
- A divulgation, or disclosure, of information previously held secret.
- The person through whom such divulgation, or disclosure, occurs.
- A loss of electricity through imperfect insulation, or the point where it occurs.
- (computing) The gradual loss of a system resource caused by failure to deallocate previously reserved portions.
- (vulgar) An act of urination.
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English leken (let water in out) borrowed from Middle Dutch leken (drip, leak) borrowed from Old Norse leka (leak, drip) inherited from Proto-Germanic *lekaną (leak, drain) derived from Proto-Indo-European *leg- (drain, leak).
Origin
Proto-Indo-European
*leg-
Gloss
drain, leak
Timeline
Distribution of cognates by language
Geogrpahic distribution of cognates
Cognates and derived terms
- Leakgate English
- aleak English
- antileak English
- antileakage English
- endoleakage English
- inleak English
- leakage English
- leakee English
- leaker English
- leakest English
- leaketh English
- leakily English
- leakiness English
- leakless English
- leaklessness English
- leakproof English
- leakproofness English
- leaky English
- megaleak English
- microleak English
- microleakage English
- nonleaker English
- nonleaky English
- overleak English
- superleak English
- lakmoes Dutch, Flemish
- lek Dutch, Flemish
- lekkage Dutch, Flemish
- lekken Dutch, Flemish
- uitlekken Dutch, Flemish
- *leg- Proto-Indo-European
- *leǵ- Proto-Indo-European
- *lakjaną Proto-Germanic
- *lakō Proto-Germanic
- *lekaną Proto-Germanic
- *lōkiz Proto-Germanic
- läcka Swedish
- leke Norwegian Nynorsk
- geondleccan Old English
- leċċan Old English
- leke Middle English
- leken Middle English
- leáigh Irish
- leka Old Norse
- lekaðr Old Norse
- lekr Old Norse
- liki Esperanto
- leka Icelandic
- leken Middle Dutch
- dolega Old Irish
- legaid Old Irish
- leagh Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic
- colheie Manx
- lheie Manx
- yn-lheie Manx
- lag Albanian
- lagaterë Albanian
- *lekan Old Dutch
- *lekken Old Dutch
- *legāti Proto-Celtic
- leka Westrobothnian
- lik Tok Pisin
- *lauga Proto-Albanian