leman

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See also: lemán, Leman, and Léman

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Middle English lemman, variant of leofman, from Old English *lēofmann ("lover; sweetheart"; attested as a personal name), equivalent to lief +‎ man ("beloved person"). In the past, incorrectly asserted to derive from French l’aimant (the [male] lover).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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leman (plural lemans)

  1. (archaic) One beloved; a lover, a sweetheart of either sex (especially a secret lover; a gallant or mistress).
  2. (often pejorative) A paramour.
    • 1915, Oscar Wilde, A House of Pomegranates: The Fisherman and his Soul:
      '...They are lost, I tell thee, they are lost. For them there is no heaven nor hell, and in neither shall they praise God’s name.’
      ‘Father,’ cried the young Fisherman, ‘thou knowest not what thou sayest. Once in my net I snared the daughter of a King. She is fairer than the morning star, and whiter than the moon. For her body I would give my soul, and for her love I would surrender heaven. Tell me what I ask of thee, and let me go in peace.’
      ‘Away! Away!’ cried the Priest: ‘thy leman is lost, and thou shalt be lost with her.’
      And he gave him no blessing, but drove him from his door.
    • 1932, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Sunset Song:
      And he sent the news to William the Lyon, sitting drinking the wine and fondling his bonny lemans in Edinburgh Town, and William made him the Knight of Kinraddie [].

Anagrams

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Malay

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Etymology

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From Javanese liman, possibly from lima +‎ -an, doublet of liman; related to Proto-Chamic *lamaːn (compare Western Cham limân, Rade êman, Jarai rơman).[1]

Pronunciation

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Noun

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leman (Jawi spelling ليمن, plural leman-leman, informal 1st possessive lemanku, 2nd possessive lemanmu, 3rd possessive lemannya)

  1. (colloquial, Javanese) elephant.
    Synonyms: liman, gajah, biram

References

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  1. ^ Turgood, Graham (1999) Ancient Cham to Modern Dialects: Two Thousand Years of Language Contact and Change, Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press, →ISBN, pages 156, 340

Further reading

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  • leman” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.
  • Wilkinson, Richard James. An Abridged Malay-English Dictionary. Macmillan. 1965.