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 & 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, two tributaries of the Gave de Pau, in Gascony.
*the Leze, a river flowing through a cave in Araia.
*the Lèze, a left 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