Hypertext Webster Gateway: "leek"
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary (easton)
Leek
(Heb. hatsir; the Allium porrum), rendered "grass" in 1 Kings
18:5, 2 Kings 19:26, Job 40:15, etc.; "herb" in Job 8:12; "hay"
in Prov. 27:25, and Isa. 15:6; "leeks" only in Num. 11:5. This
Hebrew word seems to denote in this last passage simply herbs,
such as lettuce or savoury herbs cooked as kitchen vegetables,
and not necessarily what are now called leeks. The leek was a
favourite vegetable in Egypt, and is still largely cultivated
there and in Palestine.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Leek \Leek\ (l[=e]k), n. [AS. le['a]c; akin to D. look, G.
lauch, OHG. louh, Icel. laukr, Sw. l["o]k, Dan l["o]g. Cf.
{Garlic}.] (Bot.)
A plant of the genus {Allium} ({A. Porrum}), having broadly
linear succulent leaves rising from a loose oblong
cylindrical bulb. The flavor is stronger than that of the
common onion.
{Wild leek}, in America, a plant ({Allium tricoccum}) with a
cluster of ovoid bulbs and large oblong elliptical leaves.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
leek
n 1: plant having a large slender white bulb and flat overlapping
dark green leaves; used in cooking; believed derived
from the wild Allium ampeloprasum [syn: {scallion}, {Allium
porrum}]
2: related to onions; white cylindrical bulb and flat
dark-green leaves
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