Word.ws English Dictionary

lewis

Syllables: lew·is/ˈluːɪs/

lewis noun: a cramp iron inserted into a cavity in order to lift heavy stones; used as a symbol of strength in Freemasonry.

Noun

lewis (plural lewises)

  1. A cramp iron inserted into a cavity in order to lift heavy stones; used as a symbol of strength in Freemasonry.
    Synonyms:
    lewisson
  2. (broadly, figuratively) The son of a Freemason, envisaged as assisting his father in heavy work or in old age.
  3. A kind of shears used in cropping woollen cloth.
    • After the preeming period, the lads are put either to the gig-machines, or to the lewises in the cutting or shearing-room.1835, Andrew Ure, The philosophy of manufactures, page 203

Proper noun (1) capitalized: Lewis

Lewis (countable and uncountable, plural Lewises)

  1. A male given name from Frankish.
    • And tell false Edward, thy supposed king,
      That Lewis of France is sending over masquers,
      To revel it with him and his new bride.c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard...
    • They named me Lewis and called me Louie as though my name was Louis, and I never saw the difference until Sammy pointed it out. And even then, I still don't see much difference.1994, Joseph Heller, Closing Time, →ISBN, page 42
  2. An English surname originating as a patronymic.
    • The first line of dialogue is from an off-screen Field Commander Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain), asking the team to stay in sight and “make NASA proud”.2016 August 31, “GENIUS CHARACTER REVEALS: Mark Watney”, in Industrial Scripts, archived from the original on 22 Feb 2024
  3. The title given to a partially apprenticed Freemason who is normally the Master or Son of a practicing Freemason; one practising or learning the degrees of Freemasonry after introduction to the degrees and before full induction or before becoming a Worshipful Brother.
  4. A census-designated place in Montezuma County, Colorado.
  5. An unincorporated community in Vigo County, Indiana.
  6. A minor city in Cass County, Iowa.
  7. A minor city in Edwards County, Kansas; named for journalist M. M. Lewis.
    • It’s a bit of a surprise to be driving through farmlands near Lewis, Kansas, and suddenly spot a series of tall chalk towers on the horizon.2018 July 17, Autumn Spanne, “Check out these crazy rock formations across the United States”, in CNN
  8. An unincorporated community in Henry County, Missouri; named for landowner Howell Lewis.
  9. A town in Essex County, New York; named for Morgan Lewis, 3rd Governor of New York.
  10. A town in Lewis County, New York; named for its county, itself for Morgan Lewis.
  11. An unincorporated community in Granville County, North Carolina.
  12. A town in Essex County, Vermont; named for landowners Nathan, Sevignior and Timothy Lewis.
Show 3 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. A census-designated place in Clam Falls, Polk County, Wisconsin; named for founder Charles E. Lewis.
  2. A ghost town in California.
  3. A number of townships, listed under Lewis Township.

Proper noun (2) capitalized: Lewis

Lewis

  1. A surname from Irish [in turn originating as a patronymic].

Proper noun (3) capitalized: Lewis

Lewis

  1. A surname from Welsh [in turn originating as a patronymic].

Proper noun (4) capitalized: Lewis

Lewis

  1. (abbreviation, ellipsis) Ellipsis of the Isle of Lewis: an island of Scotland, United Kingdom.

lewis meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

lewis in Hindi

लुईस, लेविस

lewis in Tamil

லெவிஸ்

lewis in Marathi

लेविस, लुईस

lewis in Urdu

لیوس, لیویس, لیوئس
More languagesFewer languages
lewis in Bengali
লুইস, লেউইস, লিউইস
lewis in Telugu
లెవిస్, లెవీస్
lewis in Malayalam
ലെവിസ്, ലെവിസുകൾ
lewis in Kannada
ಲೆವಿಸ್, ಲೆವೀಸ್
lewis in Punjabi
ਲੇਵਿਸ, ਲੁਈਸ
lewis in Gujarati
લેવિસ
lewis in Odia
ଲେୱିସ୍, ଲେୱିସ
lewis in Nepali
लेविस, लुईस

Examples of lewis in a sentence

  • Lewis also praised Taiwan’s technological prowess, calling it a “world leader” in the tech industry.
  • Lewis pointed to one apartment complex so stocked with repos it became his honey hole.
  • Lewis would look in and select his 'target for tonight', echoing the wartime RAF propaganda film.

All 22 example sentences with lewis

Synonyms of lewis

Forms of lewis

Noun
plurallewises
Proper noun
pluralLewises

Plural of lewis: lewises

Origin of lewis

From Middle English lewis, of uncertain origin. Possibly from Old French lous, plural of lou, loup (“the name of a kind of siege engine”, literally “wolf”); or related to clevis.

From Middle English Lewis, Lowis, from Anglo-Norman, from Old French Louis, from Frankish *Hlūdawīg. Doublet of Louis.

An anglicization of Irish Lobhaois, itself from Old French Louis.

Words formed from lewis

Phrases with lewis

3 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with lewis

Questions about lewis

What does lewis mean?
Lewis means a cramp iron inserted into a cavity in order to lift heavy stones; used as a symbol of strength in Freemasonry.
What is lewis in Hindi?
Lewis in Hindi is लुईस, लेविस. See Lewis meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is lewis?
Lewis can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce lewis?
Lewis is pronounced /ˈluːɪs/.
What is the plural of lewis?
The plural of lewis is lewises.

Words near lewis in the dictionary

  1. Lewinsky
  2. Lewinskyed
  3. Lewinskygate
  4. Lewinskying
  5. Lewinskys
  6. lewis
  7. Lewis acid
  8. Lewis acids
  9. Lewis and Clark County
  10. Lewis and Harris
  11. Lewis base

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: lewis (page history and authors); Lewis (page history and authors); lewis (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); lewis (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); lewis (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); lewis (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); lewis (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); lewis (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); lewis (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); lewis (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); lewis (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); lewis (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); lewis (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); lewis (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Lewis.wav.

Cite this entry: “lewis.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/lewis. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.