A strong alkaline chemical solution made from wood ash, historically used for cleaning and making soap, now usually sodium hydroxide.
From Old English 'leah,' related to 'lie' (a layering). The word originally referred to the actual ashes left after burning, which when dissolved made a powerful cleaner.
Before modern chemistry, people made lye by pouring water through wood ashes—the same method that creates that stinging alkaline solution. Soap-making literally depended on understanding this one chemical reaction from nature.
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