Leize

Leize is a widespread hydronymic root meaning 'pit','ravine'. It appears in modern Basque dictionaries as leze 'cave'.

It may be found at the origin of river or place names as:

Rivers and valleys

• the Leizaran (from Leize Haran 'valley of the Leize'), a river from Leitza in Navarre.
• the Léez, a left tributary of the Adour.
• the Léès, a right tributary of the Léez.
• the Néez, a tributary of the Gave de Pau, in Gascony.
• the Néez, another tributary of the Gave de Pau, in Gascony.
• the Leze, a river flowing through a cave in Araia.
• the Lèze, a left tributary of the Ariège River.
• the Lèze and the Lezà, two small tributaries of the Baïse de Lasseube.
• the Lez, a coastal river in Hérault.
• the Lez, a left tributary of the Salat (Ariège).
• the Lez, a left tributary of the Rhône.
• the Leza,
• the Lezo, in La Rioja, Spain
• the Lizonne or Nizonne, a tributary of the Dronne (Dordogne basin)
• the Lizou, a tributary of the Arcis (Adour basin)
• the Lis or Lys, a left tributary of the Échez (Adour basin)
• the Lis or Lys, a right tributary of the Bouès (Adour basin)
• the Lis Circus where the ski resort of Cauterets is located.
• the Lis Valley near Luchon in the Pyrenees.
• the Lys, a left tributary of the Layon (Anjou).
• the band Lize?

The Pyrenean hydronym Neste is related.

On the other hand, the Lys or Leie is based on another root, the Gaulish word liga 'silt'.

Municipalities

• Lées-Athas, commune of the Aspe Valley (Pyrénées-Atlantiques)
• Les, municipality of the Val d'Aran.
• Lez, commune of Haute-Garonne
• Lez, former commune of Aveyron, today integrated into Taussac
• Lez, village of the commune of Saint-Béat in Haute-Garonne.
• Lys, commune of Pyrénées-Atlantiques
• Saint-Lys (ex Saint-Nicolas de Lys), commune in the southwest of Toulouse.
• Leizpartz, a hamlet of Saint-Étienne-de-Baïgorry

Antroponyms

• Lexeia, an antic Aquitanian female name