Thus a lemon, quince, or sharp apple cut with a knife becomes immediately black. Brown. Vulgar Errours, b. vi. c. 12. Bear me, Pomona! to thy citron groves; Thomson. Summer. For Saresyns mowe be saved so. yf the [they] so by leyvede In the lengthynge of her lyf.-Piers Ploukman, p. 292. He was man of brede and length, Of wyt, of manhode, and of strength. Gower. Con. A. b. iii. His body was 8 foote long, and his armes and legges well They pay well for what they have, says a boat-man, I lengthed and strengthed after the proportion of his body. Fabyan, vol. 1. c. 156. am going on board her with a cargo of lemons. And if thou wilt walke in my wayes and keep myne ordinaunces and comaundemet as Dauid thy father dyd walke, I wyll lengthen thy dayes also.-Bible, 1551. 3 Kinges, c. 3. He desireth not the lengthenyng of his lyfe for any other cause, then to restoare and set forth the thynges that make for the glorie of God and profyt of the saincts. Id. Psalme, c. 30. Note. Our Lord of his high pitie condyscended and graunted hym the lengthyng of his lyf for xv. yeares. Sir T. More. Workes, p. 316. LEND, v. Le'nder. Observer, No. 15. Goth. Leigan, leicwan, leihwan; A. S. Lan-an, lihan, lendLE'NDING, n. an, alend-an; Dut. Leen-en; Ger. Leihen; Sw. Laena; mutuare; fænerari; mutuò dare, et mutuò accipere,-to give or receive one thing in exchange for another. It is now more restricted. To give, or grant, or transfer, something, any thing, or the use of any thing, to, or to the use of, another, upon condition of return or repayment; to give or grant, confer or bestow,-generally-yet still with an implication that what is granted or lent remains the property of the lender; or may either itself, or an equivalent, at another time be granted or lent in return. See LOAN. Fifty thousand marcs had he lent abbeis R. Brunne, p. 185. And if ye leenen to hem of whiche ye hopen to take agen: what thanke is it to you?-Wiclif. Luke, c. 6. If ye lende to them of whome ye hope to receaue, what thancke shall ye haue.-Bible, 1551. Ib. And knowes ful wel life doth but length his paine. Mirrour for Magistrates, p. 364. Then Agricola perceiuing the enemie to exceed him in number, and fearing, lest he should be assayled on the front and flankes both at one instant, displayed his army in length.-Savile. Tacitus. Agricola, p. 198. Why do I overlive, Why am I mockt with death, and length'n'd out And he answerde, tweye dettouris weren to oo lener. Watches no doubt, with greedy hope to find Neither a borrower, nor a lender be; For lone oft loses both itself and friend: And borrowing duls the edge of husbandry. Shakespeare. Hamlet, Act i. sc. 3. Off, off you lendings: come, vnbutton heere. Id. Lear, Act iii. sc. 4. What then will be the unavoidable consequences of such a law? i. It will make the difficulty of borrowing and lending much greater; whereby trade (the foundation of riches) will be obstructed.-Locke. Of lowering of Interest. So that the rate you set profits not the lenders, and very few borrowers, who are fain to pay the price for money, that commodity would bear, were it left free.-Id. Ib. The stock which is lent at interest is always considered as a capital by the lender. Smith. Wealth of Nations, b. ii. c. 4. There exists no reason in the law of nature, why a man should not be paid for the lending of his money, as well as any other property into which the money might be converted.-Paley. Philosophy, b. iii. pt. i. c. 10. LENDS, n. See LOINS. LENGTH, v. LENGTH, n. LENGTHEN, v. LENGTHENING, n. LE'NGTHFUL. A. S. Lang-ian; . Dut. Langhen; Ger. Langen; extendere, porrigere, protrahere, to extend or stretch out, to draw out, to inLENGTHING, N. crease the (linear) dimensions. Length, the noun, (Tooke,) is the third pers. sing. of the A. S. verb. Length,-applied strictly as denoting measurement, (sc. from end to end,) is distinguished from width and breadth ;the length of a line; the breadth or width of a surface; but the popular usage is vague. To length or lengthen, to extend or stretch out, to reach out, to draw out or protract, to increase or enlarge the extent. Length-y, adj.-has lately been introduced: (from America?) it is regularly formed, but not wanted: our word is-Long-some. See LONG. Tooke coins the adj. any-length-ian. See the quotation from him. And robbede Wurcestre ssyre in lengthe & in brede. R. Brunne, p. 19. LENIENT, adj. LE'NIENT, n. LE'NIFY, U. LE'NITIVE, adj. LE'NITIVE, n. LE'NITY. Fr. Lenir; It. Lenire; Sp. Lenizar; Lat. Lenire, (pres. part. leniens, It. and Sp. Leniente,) to soften, to soothe. (A. S. Hlan-an, to lean, bend, yield.) Softening, soothing; mild, gentle; (met.) opposed to austere or severe, harsh or rigid. But they now made worse through his lenitie & gentlenes, cast stones at him & brake his head.-Udal. Mark, c. 12. Glaucias was of opinion, That Colocasia was good to benifie or mitigat the acrimonie of humors within the bodie; and withall, to helpe the stomache. Holland. Plinie, b. xxi. c. 28. Consolatories writ With studied argument, and much perswasion sought, Lenient of grief and anxious thought. Millon. Samson Agonistes. Those milks have all an acrimony; though one would think they should be lenitive.-Bacon. Nat. Hist. § 639. Nay what shall the Scripture itself? which is like an apothecarie's shop, wherein are all remedies for all infirmities of minde, purgatives, cordialls, alteratives, corroboratives, lenitives, &c.-Burton. Anat. of Melancholy, p. 280. Address Some lenitives, tallay the fi'riness Of this disease. Daniel. Civil Wars, b. viii. Hee shewed himselfe a true king and kind father, preferring lenity and suppressing seuerity. Stow. Queen Elizabeth, an. 1589. Therefore I do advise the use of lenients, not only by the authority of those ancient and modern chirurgeons, but by my own practice.-Wiseman. Surgery, b. v. c. 9. Me, let the tender office long engage, O think what transports must thy bosom feel, Say, that my lenity shall grant your prayer, How, for the future, shall I rest assur'd Of your allegiance.-Smollett. The Regicide, Act ii. sc. 8. LENS. Lat. Lens, (perhaps quod LENTILE. humida et lenta est, vel LENTICULAR, adj. quod adhæret humi, (Isidorus,) see Vossius,) is a pulse, a lentile, Fr. Lentille; and from the shape of its seed, somewhat convex on both sides, a glass, so formed, (for a telescope, a burning glass,) is called. Lentils, Fr. Lentilles, are also "red specks, red pimples, wan, small, and lentill-resembling freckles on the face or hands." Lenticular instrument, (in Wiseman,) Fr. Lenticulaire," an instrument wherewith surgeons plane and cut away the broken bones of a wounded skull," (Cotgrave.) The root brought into a liniment cureth the lentils or red spots.-Holland. Plinie, b. xxii. c. 21. The best lentils be they that are most tender, and aske least seathing; also such as drink much water. Id. Ib. b. xxii. c. 24. In which this is remarkable, that every foramen is of a lenticular nature; so that we see objects through them topsey-turvey, as through so many convex lasses: yea, they become a small telescope, when there is a due focal distance between them and the lens of the microscope Derham. Physico-Theology, b. viii. c. 3. Note I. I have sometimes, for trial sake, brought by a lenticular glass the image of a river, shined upon by the sun, into an upper room darkened, and distant about a quarter of a mile from the river.-Boyle. Works, vol. i. p. 700. The perforation made in cranio, and the bone taken out you are to smooth away the asperity which remains in the lower table, by the lenticular instrument made for that pur pose.-Wiseman. Surgery, b. v. c. 9. Vile vetches would you sow, or lentils lean, Dryden. Virgil. Georgics, b. i LENT, n. Dut. Lent; Ger. Lenz; A. S LE'NTEN.Leneten, lengten, ver, the spring Minshew says, from Ger. Glentz; and Camden,that our ancestors, the Germans, used glent fo spring. Wachter notices no such word, but in v Lenz, (from which (with the common prefix geglentz might be formed,) he enumerates four dif ferent etymologies: 1st, from length, because a the season of spring the days lengthen; 2dly, fror lenitas, because then the air becomes mild o lenient; 3dly, glentzen, to shine or glisten, becaus it is the most brilliant or beautiful season; 4thly from the Dut. Lenten, to dissolve, because th severity of winter is then dissolved. abstemious, sparing. As Lent is or was a season of fasting, lenten And suththe about Leynte toward thys lond drou. R. Gloucester, p. 18 Sithhen in the Lenten tide he went to Saynt Andrew. R. Brunne, p. 32 Thilke penance, that is solempne, is in two maneres; as be put out of holy chirche in Lenton for slaughter of childre: and swhiche maner thing.-Chaucer. The Persones Tale. All were served with covered messes of silver, but all tl feast was fish, in observation of the Lent season. Baker. Hen. V. an. 142 180m feel hand to hed! Nem Deliser, rayer, 'd gicide, Acti It may be also, that some bodies have a kinde of lentour, and are of a more depertible nature than others; as we see it evident in colouration; for a small quantity of saffron will tinet more, than a very great quantity of brasil or wine. Bacon. Naturall Historie, s. 857. By reason of their clamminess and lentor they [arborescent hell-hocks) are banished from our sallet.-Evelyn. Acetaria. In this spawn [frog's) of a lentous and transparent body, Jenda est, velure to be discerned many specks. Pret bumi, Brown. Vulgar Errours, b. iii. c. 13. LENTISCK. Fr. Lentisque; Lat. Lentiscus, quod ipsa lentescat arbor, dum resinam fundit, (Vossius.) (perhaps and Lentile, Fr. La eed, somewhat formed, for a illed Lati 1 red pimples Who courteous bad us on soft beds recline If he was of such tenderness and compassion as to heal heal the dangerous, loathsome leprosy of the soul, which is LE/PID. (met.) to a polished wit or humour, from Gr. Having a polished wit or humour, a graceful or Fawkes. Theocritus, Idyl. 7. facetious. LEONINE, i. e. lion-like. So was he ful of leonin corage. Chaucer. The Monkes Tale, v. 14,563. LEOPARD. Formerly (sometimes) written Libbard. Fr. Léopard; It. and Sp. Leonpardo, pardo; Lat. of the Lower Ages, Leopardus. Pliny speaks of leones, quos pardi generavere, (b. viii. c. 16.) Thei sauh kynge's banere, raumpand thre lebardes. About this king ther ran on every part Chaucer. The Knightes Tale, v. 2188. Within a large wyldernesse, The leparde, and the tygre also.-Gower. Con. A. b. iv It fortuned Belphebe with her peares The woody nimphs, and with that lovely boy, Ta hunting then the libbards and the beares. Spenser. Faerie Queene, b. iv. c. 7. The certain issue of the strife divin'd, As sure a prize, as when the leopard draws LEPER. Le'PEROUS. Hoole. Orlando Furioso, b. xxvi. Fr. Lèpre; It. Lebbra; Sp. Lepra; Lat. Lepra; Gr. Aeжpa, LAPRO'SITY. from Aeros, or AεTIS, a scale. Leprosy, from Wiseman. Applied met. -see the quotation Leper (usually the person dis LEPROSY. LEPROUS. LEPROUSLY. d) is-in Wiclif-the disease itself. And lo a leprous man cam and worschipide him, and seid, thou wilt, thou maist make me clene-And anoon pe of him was clensid.-Wichf. Matthew, c. 8. And lo, there came a leper, and worshipped him saying: r, yf thou wylt, thou canst make me clene. And im ely his leprosye was clensed.-Bible, 1551. Ib. He looked on her ugly lepers face The which before was white as lely floure, Fraging his hands.-Chaucer. Complaint of Creseide. gemong the leper-folke alas.-Id. Ib. Alper-lady rose, and to her wend.-Id. Ib. Ta leper-loge take for thy goodly boure, And for thy bed take now a bounche of stro.-Id. Ib. And soone a leaper-man toke off the ring.-Id. Ib. Then he was in his lustie age lepre caught in his visage.-Gower. Con. A. b. ii. Therefore also he healed all that had faith to be Some elegant figures and tropes of rhetorike frequently used by the best speakers, and not seldome even by sacred writers, do lie very near upon the confines of jocularity, and are not easily differenced from those sallies of wit, wherein the lepid way doth consist.-Barrow, vol. i. Ser. 14. ed, both good men and bad. The ten lepers; though Fe returned, to give glory to God. That no man, never ad, should doubt of his salvation, upon believing. Grew. Cosmo. Sacra, b. v. c. 3. s. 37. my secure hower thy vncle stole yce of cursed hebenon in a violl, in the porches of mine eares did poure Sheperous distilment.-Shakespeare. Hamlet, Act i. sc.5. thee the silly amorous sucks his death, casing in a leprous harlot's breath. I say, that Nature hath an intention to make all d: and that, if the crudities, impurities, and of metals were cured, they would become gold, are but dreames.-Bacon. Naturall Historie, § 326. Donne. The Perfume, Elegy 4. of easy wax! do but imagine, he disease has left you, how leprously office would have cling'd unto your forehead. Tourneur. The Revenger's Tragedy, Act v. Theory of the Arabians was a quite other disease eb] which by the Greeks is called elephantiasis, thing else but an universal cancer of the whole i. e. to Learn, (qv.) LES (see the quotation from Bale's Votaries) are used Lest,-(see the quotation from Gower) and least as the regular past tense, contracted from les-ed or leas-ed, of the A. S. verb Les-an; and whether used as adjective or conjunction, are considered by Tooke to be this same past tense or past part. proper use of them, there being nothing expressed and, with the article that (either expressed or undimisso. derstood,) mean no more than-hoc dimisso or quo He produces two instances of the imsomething else would follow. or understood in either sentence, quo dimisso, To diminish, to decrease, to reduce. twentig; i. e. twenty dismiss (or take away) (he Less. Our ancestors the A. S. instead of eighshould perhaps rather have said withhhold) one, teen, nineteen, said, An læs twentig, twa las two, &c. We also say, He demanded twenty, I gave him two less, i.e. I gave him twenty, dismiss two and in every use of less or least, the signification of dismissing, separating, or taking away, he pronounces to be the imperative of the same A. S. verb, Les-an, and to signify-dimitte or hoc (again add, of withholding) is conveyed. Les, then, dimisso, dismiss this, or this being dismissed. is sometimes used for unless, (qv.) In confirmaIt tion, he remarks, that the Gr. El un, R. Gloucester, p. 87. Nisi, (ne sit,) It. Se non, Sp. Si no, Fr. Si non, all the Lat. mean, be it not. LERE, v. The lerid & the lewid, that wonned in the South. What tyme I left this lore the day is for to witen. R. Brunne, p. 38. But, lordes, wol ye maken assurance, Id. The Man of Lawes Tale, v. 4762. Though Tooke may be right in his etymology, (and indeed he appears to have fully established that he is so,) his mode of interpretation will not with propriety said to be dismissed, separated, or immediately suit in all cases, as that cannot be taken away, which was never united to, or possessed by, that from which it shall be so said to be dismissed, &c.; the word with-held may supply the deficiency; or a consequential usage must be introduced, e. g. As And after hus lerynge thei lyven. And he had lever talken with a page, Than to commune with any gentil wight, Ther he might leren gentillesse aright. Chaucer. The Frankelcines Tale, v. 11,006. he never was equal, it was not by the privation, Goldsmith was less in size than Johnson. loss, or taking away of bulk once possessed that he became less or minor; or negation of that, which had been withheld in was by the absence his formation; or by a consequential usage, (from instances where a minority or inferiority had been produced by an act of taking away, &c. to instances where that minority or inferiority existed without such act,) less became employed to denote immediately an inferiority or minority, whether resulting from privation or negation. of the adjective least. The like may be said As now usedTo less or lessen, is to diminish, to decrease; to cause to be smaller or more minute; to lower, to degrade, to impair, to weaken. He waited after no pompe ne reverence, Id. Prol. to the Canterbury Tales, v. 729. My fader but I were inspired And eke of hem that netherdes Was of Arcade, and hyght Pan.-Id. Ib. b. v. In many secret skills she had been conn'd her lere. Drayton. Poly-Olbion, s. 12. The gentle shepheard sat beside a springe, All in the shadowe of a bushye brere, "He lest," (Gower,) he lost. “He least," (Bale,) he of his care;" (written by Tyrwhitt as in the se- Spenser. Shepheard's Calender. December. wound ylessed;" i. e. loosened, freed, relieved from. Thereto she learned was in magicke leare. But these conditions doe to him propound; That all they, as a goddess her adoring, He, with Palemon, oft recounted o'er Less, adj.-equivalent to the Lat. Minor, infe- pared, (sc.) lesser. Lest, or least,-smallest, minutest; than which So that to the lasse Briteyne ther ne com aliue non. Me schulde fynde the les such spouse bruche do. And wo so here ys aslawe, ys deth hym sal be For ten mark men solde a littille bulchyn, Id. p. 173. R. Brunne, p. 174. But he that is lesse in the kyngdom of heavenes: is more than he.-Wiclif. Matt. c. 11. Notwithstandyng he yt is lesse [Modern Version, least] in the kingdom of heauen is greater than he. Bible, 1551. Matt. c. 11. Therefore wake ye for ye witen not whanne the Lord of the house cometh in the eventide or at mydnight or at cockis Back, and indeed a most miserable disease; but I dismiss or put away, (sc.) part; and, consequen- crowyng or the mornyng lest whan he come sodeynly he tially 1207 finde you sleeping.-Wiclif. Mark, c. 13. Watch therefore for ye know not when the master of the house wyll come, whether at euen or at mydnyght, whether at the cocke crowing or in the daunynge: least yf he come sodenlye he should fynd you slepyng. Bible, 1551. Mark, c. 13. Therefore he that brekith oon of these leeste maundementis, and techith thus men, shal be elepid the leest in the rewme of hevenes.-Wiclif. Matt. c. 5. Whosoeuer breaketh one of these lest commaundementes, and teacheth men so, he shall be called the least in the kyngdome of heauen.-Bible, 1551. Ib. But yet lesse thou do worse, take a wyfe, And on his way than is he forth yfare, In hope to ben lessed of his care. Chaucer. Dreame. Id. The Frankeleines Tale. Now let us stynt of Troylus a stounde That fareth lyke a man, that hurt is sore, And is some dele of akyng of his wounde Yessed well, but heled no dele more.-Id. Troilus, b. i. Men seyn [the world] is now lassed In wers plight than it was tho.-Gower. Con. A. Prol. - Hei by all waies seche How that thei might winne a speche Her wofull peine for to lisse. Id. Ib. b. iii. They [the companyōs of Gascoyn] became all freche, wherof the englisshmen were sore displeased, for their strēgth dayly lassed.-Berners. Froissart. Cron. vol. i. c. 249. [He-Becket] least well his accustomed embracinges after the rules of loue, and became in life relygious. Bale. English Votaries, pt. ii. And at the best wayes, if you feare not ye terrible vengeauce of God, remeber the shame of ye world. Barnes. Workes, p. 237. Margaret tell me this, wouldest thou wishe thy poore father, being at the lest wise somewhat lerned, lesse to regard the peril of his soule than did there yt honest unlearned ma? Sir T. More. Workes, p. 1438. They brought the sycke into the stretes, and laide them on beddes and palettes, yt at the lest way ye shadowe of Peter whe he came by might shadow some of the. Bible, 1551. Acts, c. 5. In the original it hath no such relation to lessness or greatness of person.-Sir T. Wyatt. To the King, 3 Feb. 1540. By little and little he began to be in lesse credit, and lightlier esteemed of the prince, notwithstanding outwardly he countenanced him as before.-Savile. Tacitus. Hist. p. 180. Make greater states upon the lesser seize. Daniel. Civil Wars, b. vi. "Less learn'd Trebatius Censure disagree." B. Jonson. Poetaster. "But will not bide there, less yourself do bring him." Id. The Sad Shepherd. And the mute Silence hist along, 'Less Philomel will deign a song, In her sweetest, saddest plight, Smoothing the rugged brow of night.-Milton. Il Penser. The best part of it was, that the tribute which had been pay'd unto the kings, was lessened by half. Ralegh. History of the World, b. v. c. 6. s. 10. So without least impulse or shadow of fate, Milton. Paradise Lost, b. iii. In place thyself so high above thy peeres.-Id. Ib. b. v. Hauing doubled the Willocke point, we thought it not good altogether to leaue that baie vnsearched, at lestwise to Eee what islands might there be found. Holinshed. The Description of Britaine, c. 14. Addison. Cato, Act ii. sc. 1. If it be possible to interest the imagination and the heart in favour of errour, it is at least, no less possible to interest them in favour of truth. Stewart. Of the Human Mind, Introd. pt. ii. s. 1. LESS, ter. The imperative les, (see LESS, ante,) placed at the end of nouns and coalescing with them, has given us such adjectives as hopeless, restless, deathless, motionless, &c. i. e. dismiss hope, rest, death, motion, &c. Our language has received a great accession lately of words in this To teach, to improve, to reprove. The Jews read the law in their synagogues however on the sabbath, and on other days they tasted no food, till they had read a section of it either in publick or private; and every man knows how solemnly and constantly this hath ever been done in all the assemblies of the Christian church. For hence they confirmed their opinions in doctrine, and learned lessons of holiness in conversation. Comber. Companion to the Temple, pt. i. s. 9. Let me take warning, lesson'd to distill, And, imitating Heav'n, draw good from ill. LET, v. LET, n. LETTER. LETTING, n. Churchill. Gotham, b. iii. See LATE. Goth. Lat-yan; A. S. Lat-ian, læt-an; Ger. and Dut. Letten; tardare, morari, impedire; to retard, to delay, to hinder, keep back or behind. It is still a common word in legal conveyances. To hinder, keep back or behind; to impede, to obstruct, to withhold. Whiche raftours, for lettyng of men in the way, were kut of by the earthe. for other wyse myght no man haue hem a way.-R. Gloucester, p. 415. Note. His dede ne wille we lette, be the martir Saynt Denys. R. Brunne, p. 87. He ys a lettare of loue. and lieth all tymes. Piers Plouhman, p. 16. Not that I caste to ghou a snare, but to that that is onest and that ghyueth esynesse without letting to make preieris to the Lord.-Wiclif. 1 Corynth. c. 7. Wo is me that so many let games, and purpose breakers been marked waiters, soche prisoners as I am euermore, to ouerlooke and to hinder, and for soche lettours, it is harde any soche iewell to winne. Chaucer. The Testament of Loue, b. i. If there ne were no lettynge. Id. Ib. b. iv. Id. Ib. And all the while their malice they did whet Id. Ib. b. vi. c. 2. Shakespeare. Hen. V. Act v. sc. 2. Bible, 1551. Ib. Sothly, if I coude, I wold tell you the ten commandments, but so high doctrine I lete to divines. Id. Ib. b. ii. c. 6. Chaucer. The Persones Tale. Let bee therefore my vengeaunce to disswade, And read, where I that faytour false may find. Spenser. Faerie Queene, b. iii. c. 2. Loe, we! how brave she decks her bounteous bowre, With silken curtens, and gold coverletts, Therein to shrowd her sumptuous belamour! Yet neither spinnes nor cards, ne cares, nor fretts, But to her mother nature all her care she letts. Thus it shall befall Him who to worth in woman overtrusting Lets her will rule. Milton. Paradise Lost, b. ix But wherefore let we then our faithful friends, Th' associates and copartners of our loss, Lye thus astonisht on th' oblivious pool. High are thy thoughts O Son, but nourish them and let them soar To what highth sacred vertue and true worth Can raise them, though above example high. Id. Ib. b. i Id. Paradise Regained, b. i The stairs were then let down, whether to dare The Fiend by easy ascent, or aggravate His sad exclusion from the dores of blis. Id. Paradise Lost, b. iii Making great spoyle, and letting them out to farme t such as would giue most for them. Stow. William Rufus, an. 1088 Gon. Mean you to enjoy him? Alb. The let-alone lies not in your good will. Shakespeare. Lear, Act v. sc. 3 Then let the moon usurp the rule of day, And winking tapers show the sun his way. Dryden. The Hind and the Panther, pt. The soul's dark cottage, battered and decay'd, Lets in new light, through chinks that time has made. Waller. On his Divine Poem Self-love thus push'd to social, to divine, Gives thee to make thy neighbour's blessing thine. Is this too little for thy boundless heart? Extend it, let thy enemies have part. Pope. Essay on Man, Epist. The horn-gate, plain, homely, and transparent, lets of true dreams.-Jortin, Dis. 6. By the common law, all persons seised of any estate mig" let leases to endure so long as their own interest lasted, b no longer.-Blackstone. Commentaries, b. ii. s. 20. LET, ter. Lye remarks that the A. S. Lytdiminutionis gratia, ex more A. Saxonum pro positum, as Lytel æcer, agellus; lytel boc, libellus and the same lyt -post-positum, may have fu nished our diminutive termination-let. - LETHARGY, n. LETHARGY, V. LETHARGICK. LETHARGICALLY. LETHARGICALNESS. LETHARGICKNESS. ful. Fr. Léthargie, létargi It. Lethargio, letargo; Lethargia; Lat. Lethargi lethargus ; Gr. Ληθαργι from Anon, forgetfulnes and apyos, sluggish, slot. A sluggish, drowsy forgetfulness, or state of fo Massinger. The Virgin-Martyr, Act i. sc. 1. getfulness; drowsiness or sleepiness to an excess The Duchesse Dowager was absolute in the lands of her dowrie, and hee could not let her to dispose of her own. Bacon. Hen. VII. p. 129. After King Ferdinando had taken upon him the person of a fraternal ally to the king, he would not let to council the king.-Id. Ib. LET, v. Goth. Let-an; A. S. Læt-an: Dut. Læten; linquere, sinere, permittere; pati; to leave, to give leave, to permit or suffer. (It is in Ger. Lassen; Dut. Laten; Fr. Laisser; It: Lasciare, and perhaps the same word as Les-an, to lease, qv.) Do's Lear, walke thus? speake thus? Where are 1 eies? either his notion weakens, or his discernings a lethargied.-Shakespeare. Lear, Act i. sc. 4. So thou, sick world, mistak'st thyself to be Donne. An Anatomy of the World. First Anniversa Men thus lethargic have best memory. Id. Of the Progress of the Soul. Second Anniversa Sure I am it [the desire of rule] is more imprinted human nature than any of your lethargical morals. Cowley. On the Government of Oliver Cromwe That thou mayest be the more effectually roused up out of More. On the Seven Churches, c. 9. Pope. Homer. Iliad, b. xv. But then the spirit, rous'd by honest shame, Churchill. An Epistle to William Hogarth. If thine the trust our Italy to keep, LEV Cham, whose labour is yet in mynde, Neyther do they thinke it lawfull to put them [verses] in Brag. Monsieur, are you not lettered? As for letters, I am of opinion, that they were in Assyria Let her not perish in lethargic sleep; Here in the gloom the pamper'd sluggards luli LE THE. LETHE AN. LE'THIED. Fawkes. A Voyage to the Planets. Far off from these, a slow and silent stream, Her wat'ry labyrinth, wherof who drinks, Millon. Paradise Lost, b ii. Sharpen with cloylesse sawce his appetite, Shakespeare. Antony & Cleopatra, Act ii. sc. 1. One portion of that lethean cup (which we must all take down upon our entrance into that land of forgetfulness) will probably drown the memory, deface the shape of all those ideas with which we have here stuffed our minds. Barrow, vol. iii. Ser. 14. The soul with tender luxury you fill, LE/THE. LETHAL. Falconer. Shipwreck, c. 3. Lat. Lethum, death. Mr. LETHIFEROUS. is used by many of the old Steevens says that lethe, death, translators of novels: he produces the instance of ethal, quoted below. Nares has another from the Palace of Pleasure. For vengeance' wings bring on thy lethal day. LETTER, n. Fr. Lettre; It. Lettera; Sp. Holland. Plinie, b. xvii. c. 56. patents under the great seal of England, made Duke of A meer daring letterless commander can, in a rational Waterhouse. Apology for Learning, p. 125. (1653.) The essence of letters doth consist in their power or The first [false wits] I shall produce are the lipogramma- You have frequently pressed me to make a collection of LETTUCE. Fr. Laictue; It. Lattuga; Sp. One lettuce makes a shift to squeeze LEVACION. Į c. 11.) No such ceremonye Caze: To a writing addressed from one to another; an epistle: To Sations of letters,) without any metaphorical or the sense or meaning of the words, (comsequential application. Letters, (collectively,)-literature or learning. The verb, to letter,-to grave, inscribe, or mark wah letters. For thuhe youre kyng be welle i lettred. Ure syng by feer is more i lettred.-R. Gloucester, p. 482. iche for sothe in science of lettres knowe thy konnyng. Id. p. 483. Llers tille his frends for help about sent. R. Brunne, p. 59. Lee it thus lowede men. for lettrede hit knowth Tat treathe and trewe loue, ys no tresour betere. Piers Plouhman, p. 19. being at Masse in ye churche of Westmynster vpon Whyt laught.-Fabyan, vol. i. c. 110. sondaye, in the tyme of the leuacion of ye sacrement, he Some chirurgeons do bring out the bone in the bore; but LEVANT, adj. LEVANTINE. The East; a wind coming from the East; the And the superscripcioun was writun ouer him in Greeke continually following after the heauenly motions, looseth The which if it be true, as truely it is, then wee may say that the aforesayd easterne current or leuant course of waters -Wiclif. Luke, c. 25. Freide with greet voice, Poul thou maddist, many ten thee to woodnesse.-Id. Dedis, c. 26. auantage, in o wise, your priests be not so wise, had to lettred (as am I).-Chaucer. Rom. of the Rose. not altogether this force, but is doubled rather by an other In the yeere 1550, the 13 Nouember, I Roger Bodenham, Hackluyt. Voyages, vol. iii. p. 26. They are called Levants both from their course, as blowfreshening and rising higher as the sun rises, for they are ing from the East where the sun rises, and also from their generally at the height when the sun comes to the meridian, and duller as the sun declines. Sir Hen. Sheere. Lord Halifax's Miscell. p. 34 They [the seeds of the Platanus] should be gathered late in Autumn, and brought us from some more levantine parts than Italy. Evelyn. Silva, c. 22. But let them not break prison to burst like a levanter, to sweep the earth with their hurricane, and to break up the fountains of the great deep to overwhelm us. "Sire," heo seyde, "y leue not that my sustren al soth seide."-R. Gloucester, p. 30. thoughtis. for a nothir man leueth that he mai ete alle Salomon sayth: Leveth me, and yeveth credence to that Surrey. Virgile. Eneis, b. ii. An assembly of visitors at or soon after the time of rising; a large assemblage of visitors to people of rank or power. I humbly conceive the business of a levee is to receive the His lordship's palace, from its stately doors, I set out one morning before five o'clock, the moon shining To aim at, to endeavour to hit. For all his minde on honour fixed is, Spenser. Mother Hubberd's Tale. As for the rule and square, the levell, the turner's instru- Daniel. Civil Wars, b. iv. And only level lies upon the rise and set. Neither would praises and actions appear so levelly con- They were termed levellers upon a pretended principle LEV of people, that it should not be in the power of the highest to oppress their inferiors, nor should the meanest of the people be out of capacity to arrive at the greatest office and dignity in the state.-Baker. Charles II. an. 1649. The hero levell'd in his humble grave, Pope. Homer. Iliad, b. xx. LEVEN. Lye acquiesces in the opinion LEVENING. of the editor of G. Douglas, that Lerin is from the A. S. Hlif-ian, rutilare, as he explains it; but Hlif-ian is the English, to lift, to raise aloft, to be conspicuous; and, consequentially, bright or brilliant. And see Jamieson. Light, or lightning. The stones were of Rynes, the noyse dredfulle and grete, Chaucer. The Wif of Bathes Prologue, v. 5858. Sins that the fire of gods and king of men As when the flashing levin haps to light Spenser. Faerie Queene, b. v. c. 7. LEVER. Fr. Levier, from the verb Lever; Lat. Levare, to raise or lift up. Eldol, erl of Gloucestre, that a strong knygt was, Hente a strong leuour, that hym a com at honde bi cas. R. Gloucester, p. 126. They had great leuers in their handis, the whiche they founde in a carpenter's yarde, with the whiche they gaue such strokis that men durst not aproche to them. Berners. Froissart. Cronycle, vol. i. c. 16. The second mechanical faculty is the leaver: the first invention of it is usually ascribed to Neptune, and represented by his trident, which in the Greek are both called by one name, and are not very unlike in form, being both of them somewhat broader at one end than in the other parts. LEV He loketh up and down, til he hath found Chaucer. The Reves Tale, v. 4059. The gay levesell at the tauerne is signe of the win that is in celler. Id. The Persones Tale. LE VET. Butler probably intended to form this word from the Fr. Lever, to raise; to rouse, and, consequentially, to animate. A rousing, animating blast. As well-feed lawyer on his breviate.-Hudibras, pt. ii. c.2. LEVIATHAN, n. The word is Hebrew; the Septuagint renders it Δρακων, a dragon, and κητος, a whale. There leviathan, Hugest of living creatures, on the deep Stretch'd like a promontory sleeps or swimmes, And seems a moving land; and at his gilles Draws in, and at his trunck spouts out a sea. Millon. Paradise Lost, b. vii. So close behind some promontory lie The huge leviathans t'attend their prey; And give no chase, but swallow in the fry, Which through their gaping jaws mistake the way. Dryden. Annus Mirabilis. LE/VIGATE, v.) from Lat. Levigare, LEVIGATE, adj. Levis, (pro glabro politoque,) Gr. Aetos, (Vossius. ) smooth, and polished. To smoothen, to polish; to bring or reduce to a state of smoothness. Wherby his labours being leuigate, and made more tollerable, he shal gouerne with the better aduyse. Sir T. Elyot. The Governorr, b. i. c. 2. New objects with a gentle and grateful touch warble upon the corporeal organs, or excite the spirits into a pleasant frisk of motion; but when use hath lerigated the organs, and made the way so smooth and easie that the spirits pass without any stop, those objects are no longer felt, or very faintly; so that the pleasure ceaseth. Barrow, vol. iii. Ser. 9. The chyle is white, as consisting of salt, oil, and water, much levigated, or smooth.-Arbuthnot. On Aliments. LEVITICAL.Į Of or pertaining to the LEVITICALLY. Levites, or tribe of Levi; to the priesthood, which, among the Jews, belonged to that tribe. Saint Augustine saith, the Christians do keep it spiritually so that if tythe be not given in the tenth, according to the Levitical institution, yet the spiritual meaning of providing for the clergy, our Levites, remaineth. Sir H. Spelman. On the Rights of the Church, c. 26. What right of jurisdiction soever can be from this place (17th Deut.) levitically bequeath'd must descend upon the ministers of the gospel equally, as it finds them in all other Wilkins. Archimedes, c. 4. points equal.-Milton. Reason of Church Government, b. i. Fair hand! that can on virgin-paper write, Waller. Of a Tree cut in Paper. The children of a neighbour of mine had a leveret given to them for a plaything; it was at that time about three months old.-Cowper. Treatment of his Hares. Skinner writes it Levesell, or LE VESEL. Lessel, umbraculum, from the Fr. Lais, trees or bushes, with the addition of the dim. term. ell. Tyrwhitt (in his note) says it is plainly derived from the Saxon Lefe, folium, and setl, sedes; and it signifies A leafy seat, an harbour. In his Glossary, he declares himself by no means satisfied with his own explanation. Levesel may be opposed to Groundsel, (qv.) or Ground-post; or mean some kind of sell or syll, (perhaps raised, Fr. Lever, to raise,) as distinct from that fixed in the ground. LEVITY. It. Levità; Sp. Levedad; Lat. See Levy.` Lightness; (met.) fickleness, changeableness; But where the bodies are of such several levitie, and gra- Eusden. Ovid. Met. b. x. Pope. The Dunciad, b. ii. Note. The lungs also of birds, as compared with the lungs of quadrupeds, contain in them a provision, distinguishingly Paley. Natural Theology, c. 12. s. 4. calculated for the same purpose of levitation. The vices of levity are always ruinous to the common people, and a single week's thoughtlessness and dissipation: is often sufficient to undo a poor workman for ever. Smith. Wealth of Nations, b. v. c. 1. LE/VY, v. Fr. Lever; It. Levare; Sp. Levar; Lat. Levare, to raise. See LEVITY. To raise, to lift up, to lift off, (to bear off, to carry away,) to collect or gather. To levy an army, is a common expression; to levy a siege (Holinshed) is not so, though correct. Spenser writes-leaved. Leuyenge vnreasonable taxes and trybutes on the tem- The duke is straight advised to retire Daniel. Civil Wars, b. vi. Another law for the benevolence, to make the sums which had agreed to pay, and were not brought in, to be leviable by course of law.-Baker. Hen. VII. an. 1508. any Not to speake of their infamous leavying of fowlers mustered within the provinces, and whole bands of hunters marching vnder severall colours. Hakewill. Apologie, b. iv. c. 7. s. 7. With that writ were sent to each sheriff instructions, that, Instead of a ship, he should lery upon his county such a sum of money, and return the same to the Treasurer of the Navy for his Majesty's use, with direction, in what manner he should proceed against such as refused: and from hence that tax had the denomination of ship-money; a word of lasting sound in the memory of this kingdom. Clarendon. Civil War, vol. i. p 58. Yet the thought of a war, which wise men saw actually levied upon the king already, was much abhorr'd, and men were credulous of every expedient which was pretended for peace. Id. Ib. vol. i. p. 693. In all the different countries of Europe then, in the same manner as in several of the Tartar governments of Asia at present, taxes used to be levied upon the persons and goods of travellers, when they passed through certain manors, when they went over certain bridges, when they carried about their goods from place to place in a fair, when they erected in it a booth or stall to sell them in. Smith. Wealth of Nations, b. iii. c. 3. The levying of the first fruits was also a new device begun in this reign, by which his holyness thrust his fingers very frequently into the purses of the faithful; and the king seems to have unwarily given way to it. Hume. History of England. Edw. I. an. 1307. LE VYNG. See LEAVING. LEW. A. S. Hliw, hleow, from the verb Low, v. Hleowan, tepere, fovere, to warm. (See LUKEWARM.) Gower uses the verb to Low; and both verb and noun are common in Scotch. See Jamieson. Warm, tepid. But for thou art lewe, and neither coold neither hoot. 1 schal bigynne to caste the out of my mouthe. Wiclif. Apocalips, c. 3 |