Lieu definition: place; stead.. See examples of LIEU used in a sentence. The word "lieu" is a noun that essentially means " instead ." It signifies taking the place of something else, acting as a substitute, or fulfilling a purpose in the stead of another thing. The core concept of "lieu" revolves around replacement. lieu (ljuː; luː) n stead; place (esp in the phrases in lieu, in lieu of) [C13: from Old French, ultimately from Latin locus place] Lieu as a standalone noun means “place” and it’s now archaic. You can remember the spelling of lieu by using the mnemonic “ l ieu i n e veryday u se.”