different between seep vs leach

English

Etymology

Variant of sipe, from Middle English *sipen, from Old English sipian, from Proto-Germanic *sip?n?, derivative of *s?pan? (compare Middle Dutch s?pen (“to drip”), archaic German seifen (“to trickle blood”)), from Proto-Indo-European *seyb-, *sib- (“to pour out, drip, trickle”) (compare Latin s?bum (“suet, tallow”), Ancient Greek ???? (eíb?, “to drop, drip”). See soap.

Pronunciation

• enPR: s?p, IPA^(key): /si?p/
• Rhymes: -i?p

Verb

seep (third-person singular simple present seeps, present participle seeping, simple past and past participle seeped)

1. (intransitive) To ooze or pass slowly through pores or other small openings, and in overly small quantities; said of liquids, etc.

2. (intransitive, figuratively) To enter or penetrate slowly; to spread or diffuse.

3. (intransitive, figuratively) To diminish or wane away slowly.

Synonyms

• leak

Noun

seep (plural seeps)

1. A small spring, pool, or other spot where liquid from the ground (e.g. water, petroleum or tar) has oozed to the surface; a place of seeping.
2. Moisture, liquid, gas, etc. that seeps out; a seepage.
3. The seeping away of a liquid, etc.
4. A seafloor vent.

Translations

Translations

See also

• sip
• siphon

Anagrams

• Sepe, eeps, pees

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch zeep.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s??p/

Noun

seep (plural sepe)

1. soap

Descendants

• ? Xhosa: isepha
• ? Zulu: insipho

Estonian

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle Low German sêpe.

Noun

seep (genitive seebi, partitive seepi)

1. soap

Declension

Massachusett

Pronunciation

• (Revived) IPA^(key): /si?p/

Noun

seep

1. river

English

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) enPR: l?ch, IPA^(key): /li?t?/
• Homophone: leech
• Rhymes: -i?t?

Etymology 1

From Middle English leche (“leachate; sluggish stream”), from Old English *l??, *l??e (“muddy stream”), from Proto-Germanic *l?kij? (“a leak, drain, flow”)(compare Proto-Germanic *lekan? (“to leak, drain”)), from Proto-Indo-European *le?- (“to leak”). Cognate with Old English le??an (“to water, moisten”), Old English lacu (“stream, pool, pond”). More at leak, lake.

Noun

leach (plural leaches)

1. A quantity of wood ashes, through which water passes, and thus imbibes the alkali.
2. A tub or vat for leaching ashes, bark, etc.
   • 1894, Robert Barr, In the Midst of Alarms, ch. 7:

     "This is the leach," said Kitty, pointing to a large, yellowish, upright wooden cylinder, which rested on some slanting boards, down the surface of which ran a brownish liquid that dripped into a trough.

3. (nautical) Alternative spelling of leech.
4. A jelly-like sweetmeat popular in the fifteenth century.
   • 1670 Hannah Woolley The Queen-like Closet, Or, Rich Cabinet [1] "To make Leach and to colour it"

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English *lechen, *lecchen, from Old English le??an, from Proto-Germanic *lakjan?, from Proto-Indo-European *le?- (“to leak”).

Verb

leach (third-person singular simple present leaches, present participle leaching, simple past and past participle leached)

1. (transitive) To purge a soluble matter out of something by the action of a percolating fluid.

   Heavy rainfall can leach out minerals important for plant growth from the soil.
2. (intransitive) To part with soluble constituents by percolation.

Usage notes

Do not confuse this verb with the verb leech.

Derived terms

• leaching
• leachate

Translations

Anagrams

• Hecla, chela