vlei

English

Alternative forms

• vley, vly

Etymology

From Afrikaans vlei, from Dutch vallei (“valley”). Doublet of valley.

Pronunciation

• (General South African) IPA^(key): /fleɪ/, /fliː/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /fleɪ/, /vleɪ/, /vlaɪ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /vleɪ/, /fleɪ/, (sometimes) /vli/, /fli/

Noun

vlei (plural vleis)

1. (Southern Africa) A shallow wetland or minor lake, generally a seasonal one, or the lowland where such a wetland appears seasonally.
   • 1861, Charles John Andersson, Lake Ngami, chapter XXV, page 301:

     The country thereabout was a succession of vleys or gulleys, then filled with excellent clear water, teeming with water-fowl.

   • 1952, Doris Lessing, Martha Quest, Panther, published 1974, page 59:

     She remembered the pleasurable warm smell of the cow droppings […] as if the four-divided stomachs of the great oxen were filled with nothing but concentrated memories of hours of grazing along the water heavy vleis.

   • 2010, Jeremiah Allen, Namibia, Other Places Travel Guide, page 199:

     Although rare, it takes an unearthly amount of rain to fill the Tsauchab River and penetrate the dune area, bringing water into the vlei. During these rare times, the vlei takes on a life of its own, much different than in the absence of water […]

2. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) (US regional) A wetland or marsh.

Derived terms

• vlei rat

Translations

shallow wetland or minor lake, especially a seasonal one

• Afrikaans: vlei

wetland — see wetland

marsh — see marsh

Anagrams

• Levi, Viel, evil, live, veil, vile

Afrikaans

Etymology 1

From Dutch vallei (“valley”).

Noun

vlei (plural vleie)

1. marsh, wetland, vlei

Etymology 2

From Dutch vleien.

Verb

vlei (present vlei, present participle vleiende, past participle gevlei)

1. flatter, coax, wheedle

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛi̯

Verb

vlei

1. inflection of vleien:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
   3. imperative

Anagrams

• veil, viel