leat
/liːt
/noun British
An open watercourse conducting water to a mill: the Little Avon was used to feed the millpond via a half mile long leat...
- Due to the necessity of following the contours the length of the leat was seventeen and a half miles.
- Factory buildings spread from the leats on the west side of the river up the north side of Exwick Hill.
- There are a number of leats existing in Somerset and a typical example can be seen at the Mill at Warren Farm, Exmoor.
Origin
Late 16th century: from Old English -gelǣt (recorded in wætergelǣt 'water channel'), related to lǣtan 'to let'.