leaven

English

WOTD – 22 November 2009

Etymology

From Middle English levayn, borrowed from Old French levain, from Vulgar Latin *levāmen, a noun based on Latin levō (“raise”).

Pronunciation

Noun

leaven (countable and uncountable, plural leavens)

  1. Any agent used to make dough rise or to have a similar effect on baked goods.
  2. (figurative) Anything that induces change, especially a corrupting or vitiating change.
  3. Chametz.
    • 1878, “On The Passover”, in Joseph Barclay, transl., The Talmud, page 95:
      On the fourteenth day of Nisan men search for leaven by candlelight.

Synonyms

Hypernyms

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Translations

Verb

leaven (third-person singular simple present leavens, present participle leavening, simple past and past participle leavened)

  1. (transitive) To add a leavening agent.
    Yeast is used to leaven bread, making it rise during baking.
  2. (transitive) To cause to rise by fermentation.
  3. (transitive, figuratively) To temper an action, decision, attitude, characteristic, etc.
    • c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
      Duke. No more euasion:
      We haue with a leauen'd, and prepared choice
      Proceeded to you; therefore take your honors:[...]
    • 1920, Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, London: Pan Books, published 1954, page 125:
      “A tinge of Jewish blood is not a bad thing. It leavens the”—she looked at him—“stolid stupidity of the ordinary Englishman.”
    • 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page vii:
      With fresh material, taxonomic conclusions are leavened by recognition that the material examined reflects the site it occupied; a herbarium packet gives one only a small fraction of the data desirable for sound conclusions. Herbarium material does not, indeed, allow one to extrapolate safely: what you see is what you get […]
  4. (transitive, figuratively) To imbue; to infect; to vitiate.
    The comedian's jokes helped leaven the atmosphere during the serious meeting.
    Her optimism seemed to leaven the otherwise tense environment.
    • 1649, John Milton, Eikonoklastes‎[1], London, published 1756, page 30:
      With these and the like deceivable doctrines, he levens also his prayer.
    • 1716, Thomas Browne, edited by Samuel Johnson, Christian Morals‎[2], 2nd edition, London: J. Payne, published 1756, Part I, p. 7:
      […] pursue virtue virtuously: leven not good actions, nor render virtues disputable. Stain not fair acts with foul intentions […]
  5. To rise or become larger; to prove. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

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Translations

See also

German

Etymology

From English leave +‎ -en.

Verb

leaven (third-person singular present leavt, past tense leavte, past participle geleaved or geleavt, auxiliary haben or sein)

  1. (slang, gaming, otherwise rare) to leave
    Synonym: quitten

West Frisian

Noun

leaven

  1. plural of leaf
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