From Middle High German lewe, löuwe, lauwe, from Old High German lewo, lēo, from Proto-West Germanic *lewo, *lēwo (“lion”). The spelling -ew- in Middle High German generally represents a diphthong [øy̯(w)], and accordingly the expected form in Modern German is Leu(e) (cf. freuen). The form Löwe with a monophthong and consonantal -w- is most readily explained from a long-vowel variant lēwe, which would correspond to Dutch leeuw.