At 3:33:25 AM on Sunday, July 4, 2004, P&G wrote:
>>The forms from *lek- generally relate to the meaning
>>'leak'. I don't know whether English _leach_ belongs here
>>- I think the long vowel precludes a derivation from this
>>root.
> I can't check it at the moment, but I'm guessing it's a
> causative, which would explain both the long vowel and the
> final ch - as drench from drink.
That's the obvious explanation of the <ch>, but would it
explain the long vowel? The verb makes a very late
appearance, but the associated noun occurs in the 17th c. as
<le(t)ch> (OED s.v. <leach> sb.2). The AHD derives the verb
from ME <leche> 'leachate', from OE *<lece> 'muddy stream'.
This would be the source of North Country and NW Midlands
<lache>, <letch> 'a stream flowing through boggy land, a
muddy hole or ditch, a bog'; the ME spellings are <lach(e)>
and, less often, <leche>, and the word occurs in OE charters
as <lec>, <lece>, <lecc>, and <læcce>, apparently 'muddy
brook'. The river Leach in Gloucs. is <Lec> 718x745 [11th
c.], <Lachebrok> 12th c., <Leche> 1570, 1690, <Leech> 1612.
Eastleach, on this river, is <Estlech(e)> 1138-1372 and,
without the modifier, <Lec(c)e> 1086, <Lech(e)> 1221, 1227,
<Lecche> 862 [14th c.], while Northleach, also on the Leach,
is <Northlecch(e)> 1200-1330, <Northlech(e)> 12th c.-1514,
<Northlacche> 1429, <Northleach(e)> 1627, 1641, and, without
the modifier, <Lecce> 1086, <Lec(c)h(e)> 1086-1220. The
same element appears in Cheshire as <Lache> (<Leche>
1086-1150, <Lache> from 1285 on, and <Leeche>, <Layche> 18th
c.), and in the name <Lach Dennis> (<Lache Deneys> 1260,
<Lache Dennis> 1312, plain <Lece> 1086, <Lache> 13th c.,
<Lach> from 1287 on). All in all, the long vowel seems to
be a pretty late phenomenon.
Brian