leat

Definition

An artificial watercourse, canal, or aqueduct, but especially a millrace.

Etymology

Probably from Middle English lete (“a meeting or intersection of roads; junction; crossroads; conduit”), from Old English ġelǣte (“a going out, ending, meeting”), as in Old English wæterġelǣt (“watercourse, aquaduct”), from Proto-Germanic *lētą, *galētą (“a letting, a letting out”). Cognate with Old High German gilāz (“outlet, exit, end, road junction”), German Gelaß (“back room, recess, private chamber”). Related to English let.

Example Sentences

• "His paws rested on a sunken branch. The water moved down, clouded with the mud-stirrings of the leat. He lay so still that the trout returned to their stances beside the stone sterlings."