Lek

/lɛk/ noun

Definition

A traditional mating display ground where male birds or animals gather to attract females, or the currency of Albania and some other countries.

Etymology

From Albanian 'leke' (plural 'leke'), but the biological term comes from Swedish 'lek' (to play). Swedish naturalists studying grouse mating behavior gave the biological term to English in the early 1900s.

Kelly Says

A lek is absolutely wild—imagine a nightclub for birds where hundreds of males dance and display their plumage just to impress females! Scientists borrowed the Swedish word because European naturalists were studying mating behavior and needed a term for this bizarre but real phenomenon.

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