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And first.

As soon as laziness will let me,

I rise from bed, and down I sit me.

Dodsley. The Foolman. LEA. A. S. Leag, ley. Somner calls it, LEASE. terra inculta, lay-land, land that LE'ASOW. lieth untilled. Gower uses the expression" the lease, which is plaine;" Verstegan takes Legh, ley, or lea, "to signifie ground that heth unmanured, and wildly overgrowne." And Skinner says, that a lay or lea of land may perhaps be from the A. S. Lec-gan, ponere, to lay, because in the year we allow it to remain untilled, we lay dung upon it. And see the quotations from Beaum. & Fletch. and Dryden; who write it lay. There is, however, in the A. S. the verb Læsw-ian, pascere, pabulari, to feed, to foster, or pasture cattle, as is usual on commons; and the noun Lasre, pascuum, feeding ground or pasture, a leese or common. Wiclif uses both verb and noun. And see Lesuris in Jamieson.

From plain or pasture land it is extended to the plain surface of water. See the first quotation from Spenser.

of welles swete and colde ynow, of lesen and of mede. R. Gloucester, p. 1. And not fer fro hem was a flock of many swyn lesewynge. Wiclif. Matthew, c. 8. And he schal go yn and schal go out, and he schal fynde leewis-Id. Jon, c. 10.

And upon this, also men sayn,

That fro the lease, which is plaine

Into the breres thei forcatche.-Gower. Con. A. Prol.

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Beaum. & Fletch. Love's Pilgrimage, Act iii. sc. 3.

As when two warlike brigandines at sea,
With murd'rous weapons arm'd to cruell fight,
Do meete together on the wat'ry lea,
They stemme ech other with so fell despight.
Spenser. Faerie Queene, b. iv. c. 2.

Though many a load of marle and manure layd,
Reviv'd his barren legs, that erst lay dead.
Bp. Hall, b v. Sat. 1.
Fye, shepheard's swaine, why sitt'st thou all alone
Whilst other lads are sporting on the leyes?
Joy may have company, but Grief hath none,
Where Pleasure never came, sports cannot please.
Browne. Britannia's Pastorals, b. i. s. 3.

All the forenamed places the said Earle gaue and granted to the said John, sonne to the King of England, for euermore, with his daughter, so freelie, wholie and quietlie, (in men and cities, castels, fortresses, or other places of defense, in medowes, leassewes, &c.)—Holinshed Hen. II. an. 1173.

A tuft of daises on a flowery lay
They saw, and thitherward they bent their way.

Dryden. The Flower and the Leaf.

Or where old Cam soft paces o'er the lea
In pensive mood, and tunes his Doric reeds.
Thomson. Castle of Indolence, c. 2.

The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,
The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea.
Gray. Elegy wrillen in a Country Church-yard.

LEAD, n.
LEAD, v.

LEADEN.
LE'ADY.

A. S. Læd; Dut. Loot; Ger. Lot. Wachter derives from Loosen, solvere, to dissolve; or Lassen, fundere, liquefacere, to melt. Skinner, from Lad-an, ducere, because of all the baser metals it is (as he thought) the most ductile. Of seluer and of gold, of tyn and of lead. R. Gloucester, p. 1. The land after Saturne groweth, And Jupiter the brass bestoweth.-Gower. Con. 4. b. iv. All they that shoulde he brasse, tynne, yron, and leade, are in the fyre become drosse-Bible, 1551. Ezekiel, c. 22.

He causeth th' one to rage with golden burning dart, And doth alay with leaden cold again the other's hart. Surrey. Description of the Fickle Affections, &c. The rosiall colour whiche was wonte to be in his visage, tourned into a salowe, the resydue pale, his ruddy lippes wan, & his eyen ledy and holowe.

Sir T. Elyot. The Governorr, b. ii. c. 12.

1

He fashioneth the clay with the arm, and boweth down his strength before his feet; he applieth himself to lead it over; and he is diligent to make clean the surface. Bible. Ecclesiastes, xxxviii. 30. island Cassiteris.-Holland. Plinie, b. vii. c. 56. Midacritus was the first man that brought lead out of the

For thy he thril'd thee with a leaden dart
To love fair Daphne, which thee loved lesse.
Spenser. Faerie Queene, b. iii. c. 11.

There is a great difference, and discernable even to the which I can show you so like steel, and so unlike common eye, betwixt the several ores; for instance, of lead, some of lead-ore, that the workmen upon that account are pleased to call it steel-ore.-Boyle. Works, vol. i. p. 323.

A leaden tower upheaves its heavy head,
Large leaden arches press the slimy bed,
The soft soil swells beneath the load of lead.

LEAD, v. LEAD, n. LE'ADER. LE'ADING, n. LE'ADMAN.

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To go before as guide or conduce to follow; to conduce or conduct; to induce, ductor; to show the way or inattract, or persuade, to regulate the course; to draw on; to cause to follow or pursue.

Lead, with prepositions, is used as equivalent to the compounds of the Lat. Ducere; e. g. to abduce, to adduce, &c.

To hys mayne he seyde, That he wolde to his Godes his ofryng lede. R. Gloucester, p. 25. He ariued at Southhampton, as the wynd hym had y lad. Id. p. 91. The Scottes & the Peihtes togider gan thei chace, To waste alle Northumberland, the godes away thei ledde. R. Brunne, p. 7. And he that best laborede. best was alowede And leders for here laborynge. overe al the lordes goodes. Piers Plouhman, p. 141. Thei ben blynde and leederis of blynde men, and if a blinde man lede a blynde man, bothe fallen downe in the diche.- Wiclif. Matthew, c. 15.

They be the blynde leaders of the blynde. If the blynde leade the blynde, bothe fall into the dyche.-Bible, 1551. Ib.

This knight is to his chambre ladde anon
And is unarm'd, and to his mete ysette.

Chaucer. The Squieres Tale, v. 10,486.
And Hanniball was thilke while
The prince and leader of Carthage.-Gower. Con. A. b. v.
Hir fader, whiche in Romaine
The ledynge of the chiualrie

In gouernance hath vndertake.-Id. Ib. b. vii.

What supports me, dost thou ask?

The conscience, friend, t'have lost them overply'd

In liberty's defense, my noble task,

Of which all Europe talks from side to side.

This thought might lead me through the world's vain mask.

Content though blind, had I no better guide.

Milton. To Cyriac Skinner.

So that we may justly impute all that was extraordinary in the valour of Cæsar's men, to their long exercise vnder a good leader, in so great a warre.-Hakewill. Apol b. iv. s. 9.

Flaccus selected out of his legions a company of chosen men, and committed them to the leading of Dillius Vocula, lieutenant of the eighteenth legion.-Savile. Tacitus, p.151.

Such a light and mettled dance
Saw you never.

And by leadmen for the nonce,

That turn round like grindle stones.-B. Jonson,
Why would my Muse enlarge on Lybian swains;
Their scatter'd cottages, and ample plains?
Where oft the flocks, without a leader, stray.
Dryden. Virgil, Georg. 3.

Then why, like ill-condition'd children,
Start we at transient hardships in the way
That leads to purer air and softer skies,
And a ne'er setting sun?

Blair. Grave.

He try'd each art, reprov'd each dull delay,
Allur'd to brighter worlds and led the way.

Goldsmith. Deserted Village. The party which takes the lead there has no longer any apprehensions.-Burke. On a Regicide Peace, Let. 3.

I thank God, I am neither a minister nor a leader of op.. position.-Id. Ib. Let 1

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Leaf is applied to various things, flat and thin; as the leaf of a tree, of a book, of a table, of a door; to a substance beaten flat and thin, as leafgold, leaf-silver.

I se it by ensample in sommer time on trees
There some bowes ben leued, and some bere none.
Piers Plouhman. Vision, p. 78.
Id. Ib. p. 306.

Alle the leves fallen. And he saugh a fige tre bisidis the weye and cam to it and fond nothing therynne but leeves onely. Wiclif. Matthew, c. 21. And spied a fygge tree in the waye, and came to it, and fonde nothyng theron but leues onely-Bible, 1551. Ib. Turne over the leaf, and chese another tale.

Chaucer. The Milleres Prologue, v. 3237. Archigallus was thus restored to the kingdome, and learned by due correction that he must turne the leafe, and take out a new lesson, by changing his former trade of liuing into better, if he would reigne in suertie.

Holinshed. The Historie of England, b. ii. c. 7. Then I no more shall court the verdant bay, But the dry leafless trunk on Golgotha.

Carew. To Master George Sands.

She, all as happy as of all the fairest,
Is, with her fellow maidens, now within
The leafy shelter that abuts against

The island's side. Shakespeare. Pericles, Act v. sc. 1.
Sing no more ditties, sing no moe,

Of dumps so dull and heauy,

The fraud of men were euer so,

Since summer first was leafy.

Id. Much Adoe about Nothing, Act ii. sc. 3.

I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates, and the gates shall not be shut. Bible. Modern Version. Isaiah, xxiv. 1. For most trees do begin to sprout in the fall of the leaf or autumn, and if not kept back by cold and outward causes, would leaf about the solstice.

Brown. Vulgar Errours, b. ii. c. 6.

Like leares on trees the race of man is found,
Now green in youth, now withering on the ground;
Another race the following Spring supplies:
They fall successive, and successive rise.

Pope. Homer. Iliad, b. vi.
On the leafless elm
The noisy rook builds high her wicker nest.
Somervile. The Chase, b. iv.
And all her train, with leafy chaplets crown'd,
Were for unblam'd virginity renown'd.

Dryden. The Flower and the Leaf

As from the summit of some desert rock,
The sport of tempests, falls the leafless oak,

Of all its honours stript.-Wilkie. The Epigoniad, b. viii.
Scarce stole a breeze to wave the leafy spray.
Scarce trill'd sweet Philomel her softest lay.

LEAGUE, n. LEAGUE, v. LE'AGUER.

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Mason. Isis, a Monologue.

Fr. Ligue; It. Lega; Sp. Liga; Low Lat. Liga, a bond, a confederation, -a ligando. (Voss. de Vit. lib. iii. c. 20.) See LIEGE.

A bond or obligation, (sc.) to perform certain covenants; a covenant, a combination, a confederacy.

Furthermore signifying that he dyd consecrate a newe league of the euangelical profession by this misterie. Udal. Mall. c. 26.

Within his breast, as in a palace, lye
Wakeful ambition leagu'd with hasty pride.

P. Fletcher. Upon the Picture of Achmet
As th' earnest to confirm and ratify
The league between them two, newly begun.
Daniel. Civil Wars, b. viii,
Wee, and our friends, are seconded from Italy, Spayne,
Flaunders, and Germany, besides the matchlesse strength
of resolute leaguer, in this holy vnion.

Stow. Q. Elizaveth, an. 1590.

In me affianc'd, fortify thy breast,
Though myriads leagued thy rightful clain. contest.
Pope. Homer. Odyssey, b. xx.
Whose only aim

Is to preserve their Country; who oppose;
In honour leagu'd, none but their Country's foes.
Churchill. Gotham, D. iii.

LEA

Fr. Lieue; It. Lega; Sp.

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LEAGUE, n. Legua; Lat. Leuca. The most ancient instance. of the Lat. word, which Vossius had met with, is in the original of the passage quoted from Ammianus. The true reading of the word is uncertain. Spelman writes it leuca, leuga, leuice, and lega; the etymology is unknown. (See Vossius, de Vit. lib. ii. c. 11, and lib. iii. c. 12.) Also Spelman, in v. Leuca, and Menage, in v. Lieue.

The storme was so hedeouse, that in lasse than a day they were driuen a hundred leages fro the place wher they were before.-Berners. Froissart. Cronycle, vol. i. c. 81.

From the place whence the Romanes advaunced their standerds unto the barbarians fort, it was fourteene leagues, til is to say, one and twentie miles. Holland. Ammianus, p. 69. That some few leagues should make this change, To man unlearn'd seems mighty strange.

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LEAM, or LIAM.

A

LEA

hunter's word, (Skinite which

dogs are lead is so called from the Fr. Lien, a band.
See LIME.

But lyckynge the legges and handes of the man, whiche
laye dysmayde, lokinge for deathe [the lion] toke acquaint-
ance of him, and euer after folowed hym, beynge ladde in a
small lyam.-Sir T. Elyot. Governour, b. ii. c. 13.

My hound then in my lyam, I by the woodman's art
Forecast where I may lodge the goodly high-palm'd hart.
Drayton. The Muses' Elysium, Nymphal 6.
LEAN, v.
A. S. Hlion-an, hlyn-ian; Ger.
LEANING, n. and Dut. Lenen; Sw. Laena, re-
cumbere, inclinare, inniti :—

To press against in an oblique direction; to
incline, to recline, to repose; to be out of an
upright position; to incline or bend towards, or
Prior. Alma, c. 2. have an inclination for.

Some traverse many a league of country o'er,
And some review their native seats no more.

Hoole. Orlando Furioso, b. xx.

LEAGUER, v. Į See BELEAGUE. Ger. LaqLE'AGUER, n. en; Dut. Laeg-hen; A. Š. Lic-yan, to lay: Ger. Lager; Dut. Legher, (Sw. Laeger, from ligga, quatenus commorari notât,Thre.)

A camp; where an army or body of soldiers lay or are laid.

A town leaguer'd,-a town before which an army or host is laid, (sc. to assault or attack it.)

When as it was perceiued that their slender ranks were not able to resist the thicke leghers of the enemies, they began to shrinke and looke backe one vpon an other, and so of force were constreined to retire.

Holinshed. Historie of England, b. vi. c. 13.

That 'tis not strange your laundress in the leaguer
Grew mad with love of you.

Massinger. The Fatal Dowry, Act iii. sc. 1.

For know, though I appear less eager,
I never mean to raise my leaguer,
Till or by storm, or else by famine,
I force you to the place I am in.

Cotton. To John Bradshaw, Esq.
Two mighty hosts a leaguer'd town embrace,
And one would pillage, one would burn the place.
Pope. Homer. Iliad, b. xviii.
I'm none of those that took Maestrick,
Nor Yarmouth leaguer knew.

'LEAK, v. LEAK, N. LEAK, adj. LEAKAGE. LE'AKY.

Rochester. Upon drinking in a Bowl. Gr. Lechen, lachen, hiare; Dut. Leck, rima, a chink: leck schip, navis rimosa.

To gape or open; and, consequentially, to admit or emit, (sc.) any fluid; to admit or let in, to emit, or let, or drop out; to be unable to contain or retain.

Seldome chaunseth it, that whoso lyke a foole placeth hymselfe in a leakinge shyppe with such as after, by misfortune, be cast into the sea, doothe scape alyue to lande, and all the reste be drowned.-Sir T. More. Workes, p. 1386. He by Sithrike's procurement was sent to Flanders in a ship that leaked, and so was drowned.

Holinshed. Historie of England, b. vi. c. 19.

Fool. Her boat hath a leak,
And she must not speak
Why she dares not come over to thee.

Shakespeare. Lear, Act iii. sc. 6. And fifty sisters water in leke vessels draw. Spenser. Faerie Queene, b. i. c. 5. Gonz. Ile warrent him for drowning, though the ship were no stronger than a nutt-shell, and as leaky as an vnstaunched wench.-Shakespeare. Tempest, Act i. sc. 1. [They found] a cask in one place, and a cask in another;some stay'd against the trees, and leek'd out. Dampier. Voyage, b. ii. pt. iii. c. 6.

As, when

Against a secret cliff, with sudden shock
A ship is dash'd, and leaking drinks the sea.

J. Philips. Cider, b. ii.
When unrelenting thus the leaks they found,
The clattering pumps with clanking strokes resound.
Falconer. The Shipwreck, c. 2.
To accumulate their misfortunes, they were soon obliged
to cut away their bowsprit, to diminish, if possible, the
Leakage at the head.-Anson. Voy. round the World, b. i. c.3.

There is no blab like to the quest'ning fool;
Ev'n scarce before you turn yourself about,
Whate'er he hears his leaky tongue runs out.

And lende vp hys sseld, & harkned hym ynou. R. Gloucester, p. 308. Unto the someres tide ther gan he lende. R. Brunne, p. 18. And in a lände, as Ich lay, lenede Ich & slepte. Piers Plouhman, p. 1. Set me that I maye touche the pillers that the house stande vpon, and that I may leane to them. Bible, 1551. Judges, c. 16. Whereon the queen her weak estate might lean. Prayton. The Barons' Wars, b. iii. Leaning long upon any part maketh it mumme, and, as we call it, asleep.-Bacon. Naturall Historie, § 735, There's not a blessing individuals find, But some way leans and hearkens to the kind.

Pope. Essay on Man, Epist. 4. It is this; that faith is not an assent to propositions of any kind, but a recumbency, leaning, resting, rolling upon, adherency to (for they express themselves in these several terms, and others like them) the person of Christ. Barrow, vol. ii. Ser. 4. Thus to relieve the wretched was his pride, And ev'n his failings lean'd to virtue's side. Goldsmith. The Deserted Village. The mover being a person in office, was, however, the only indication, that was given of such a leaning. Burke. Letter to T. Burgh, Esq. A. S. Hlan-ian, læn-ian, mato be or cerare, marcessere ; become or cause to be thin or meagre. And the adjective lean,— Thin, meagre, poor; having no flesh or fleshy substance; no wholesome or nutritious substance, or quality.

LEAN, adj. LE'ANNESS. LE'ANY.

But God wot what that May thought in hire herte,
Whan she him saw up sitting in his sherte
In his night cap, and with his necke lene.
Chaucer. The Marchantes Tale, v. 9727.

Not halfe so pale was Avarice,
Ne nothing like of leannesse.

Id. Rom. of the Rose.

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They are sped;
And when they list, their lean and fleshy songs
Grate on their scrannel pipes of wretched straw.
Milton. Lycidas.

No drought, no leanenesse that can draw
The moysture from the wither'd limmes.
Beaumont. A Funeralle Hymne out of Prudentius.
They han fat kernes, and leany knaves,
Their fasting flockes to keepe.

Spenser. Shepheard's Calender. August.
Thirst, leanness, excess of animal secretions, are signs
and effects of too great thinness of blood.
Arbuthnot. Of Aliments, c. 2.
Now while the stomach from the full repast
Subsides, but ere returning hunger gnaws,
Ye leaner habits, give an hour to toil.
Armstrong. The Art of Preserving Health, b. ii.

LEAP, v.
LEAP, n.
LE APER.
LEAPING, n.

Hamilton. Horace, b. i. Epist. 18. (Somner)

Dut. Loop-en; Ger. Lauffen; Sw. Loepa, currere, to run; Goth. Hlaup-an; A. S.Hleap-an, salire, saltare, to leap or skip, See J.OPE.

To move at springs or bounds, as distinguished

from the step in walking or running; to jump, to spring, to bound. See the quotation from Brown. Leap-year, (see BISSEXTILE,) q.d. annus saltans, because it leaps over, i. e. exceeds others by one day, (Skinner.)

Leaper is in speech a common word.

And somme lepte her & there. R. Gloucester, p. 396. He & othr wt hym. that hulde nougt wt treuthe Lopen out in lotchliche forme. Piers Ploukman, p. 18. & [modris] seide with a greet voice, rise, thou upright on thi feet: and he lippide and walkide.-Wiclif. Dedis, c. 14. The wif came leping inward at a renne, She sayd, "Alas! youre hors goth to the feune." Chaucer. The Reves Tale, v. 4077. And she whiche toke of death no kepe, Anone forth lepte in to the depe.-Gower. Con. A. b. iv. And euen so shal the children of M. More's faythlesse faith. made by the persuation of mã, leap short of the rest which our Sauiour Jesus is rise vnto.-Tyndall. Workes, p. 268.

Johan, come out at some windowe and speke with us, and we shall receive you make a leape, in lykewise as ye haue made some of us to leape wt in this yer. yt behoueth you to make this leape.-Berners. Froissart. Cronyele, c. 378.

A man leapeth better with weights in his hands, than without. The cause is, for that the weight, (if it be proportionable,) strengtheneth the sinewes, by contracting them. Bacon. Naturall Historie, § 696.

And laughing lope to a tree.

Spenser. Shepheard's Calender. April. More famous long agone, than for the salmon's leap For beavers Tivy was. Drayton. Poly-Olbion, s. 6. One Barrow made a leap from a vain and libertine youth, to a preciseness in the highest degree. Bacon. Observations on a Libel.

Or whether they move per frontem et quadratum, as Scaliger terms it, upon a square base, the legs of both sides moving together, as frogs and salient animals, which is properly called leaping.-Brown. Vulgar Errours, b. iv. c. 6.

Some late writers vppon hope of reward or to curry fauor, with time and state, haue very vaingloriously recommended vnto endles memory, many land-leapers, bragging cowards, &c.-Stow. Q. Elizabeth, an. 1602.

On the fiue and twentith daie of Februarie, being Shrouesundaie in the leape yeare, they were solemnlie crowned by the Bishop of Winchester.-Holinshed. Edw. II. an. 1308. With stilts and lope staves that do aptliest wade. Drayton. The Barons' Wars, b. i. Whether the bull or courser be thy care, Let him not leap the cow, nor mount the mare. Dryden. Virgil, Geor. 3.

It is a short history of the lover's leap, and is inscribed, An account of the persons male and female, who offered up their vows in the temple of the Pythian Apollo in the fortysixth Olympiad, and leaped from the promontory of Leucate into the Ionian Sea, in order to cure themselves of the passion of love.-Spectator, No. 233.

The space of a year is a determinate and well-known period, consisting commonly of 365 days; for, though in bissextile or leap-years it consists properly of 366, yet by the statute 21 Hen. iii. the increasing day in the leap-year, together with the preceding day, shall be accounted for one day only.-Blackstone. Commentaries, b. ii. c. 9. LEAP, or LEPE. Le'peful.

A. S. Leap, calathus, a basket, hamper or pannier of osiers, (Som ner.)

In lepes & in coufles so muche vyss hii ssolde hym brynge R. Gloucester, p. 265. Thei token up that, that lefte of relifs sevene leepis. Wiclif. Mark, c. 8. And leeten hym doun in a leap bi the wal.

Id. Dedis, c. 9. And bi a wyndow in a leep I was latun doun bi a wal. Id. 2 Corynth. c. 11. And alle eeten and weren fulfilld and thei token that that was left of relifis sevene lepfull.-Id. Matthew, c. 15. LEAR. See LERE. LEARN, v. LEARNER. LEARNING. LEARNEDISH.

LEARNEDLY.

A. S. Læran; Ger. Leren; Dut. Lecren; Sw. Learn; Old English, to lere (qv.); A. S. Leornian; Ger. Lernen, to learn. The Goth. is Laisyan; the Ger. have lesen, as well as leren, and lernen; the Goth. Lis-an, and the A. S. Lis-an, and lesan; legere, colligere; to glean, to gather, to collect; Eng. to lease, (sc. corn.) See LEASE, LEASER.

It admits then of a conjecture that to learn may mean, to gather or take up; (take or teach, qv. and see BETECHE.)

To learn, is (by modern usage) only

To take to ourselves, (sc.) the knowledge of any thing; formerly also, to take it to another, to deliver, impart, or communicate it; to teach.

To take, accept, or receive (knowledge); to acquire or obtain, gain or procure it.

And so heo schulde lerne, with Christenemen to fygte. R. Gloucester, p. 153. Take ye my yok on you, and lerne ye of me, for I am mylde and meke in herte.-Wiclif. Mall. c. 11.

Take my yocke on you, and learn of me, for I am meke and lowly in herte.-Bible, 1551. Ib.

Lerneth to suffren, or so mote I gon,
Ye shul it lerne whether ye wol or non.

Chaucer. The Frankeleines Tale, v. 11,090. Certis I know not other men's witts, what I should aske, or in answere, what I should saie, I am so leude my self, that mockell more lernyng, yet me behoueth.

Id. The Testament of Loue, b. iii. These and a thousand points more dooeth Erasmus by occasion not onely touche, but also in such sorte moste learnedly handle. Udal, Pref.

Besides, the king set in a course so right,
Which I for him laboriously had tract,
(Who, till I learn'd him, had not known his might.)

Drayton. The Legend of Thomas Cromwell.

When I was yet a child, no childish play
To me was pleasing, all my mind was set
Serious to learn, and know, and thence to do
What might be publick good.-Milton. Par. Reg. b. i.

And yet doth his majesty [King James] distinguish it [magick] from necromancy, witchcraft, and the rest of all which he hath written largely and most learnedly.

Ralegh. History of the World, b. i. c. 11. s. 2.

For it is true, the late learners cannot so well take the plie; except it be in some mindes, that have not suffered themselves to fix, but have kept themselves open and prepared, to receive continual amendments,-which is exceed ing rare.-Bacon. Ess. Of Custome.

The parts of human learning have reference to the three parts of man's understanding which is the seat of learning; history to his memory, poesy to his imagination, and philosophy to his reason. Id. Advancement of Learning, b. ii.

Thus then to man the voice of Nature spake,
Go, from the creatures thy instructions take:
Learn from the birds what food their thickets yield,
Learn from the beasts the physic of the field,
Thy arts of building from the bee receive:
Leara from the mole to plough, the worm to weave.
Pope. Essay on Man, Ep. 3.

And seem more learnedish than those
That in a greater charge compose.

Butler. Miscellaneous Thoughts.
Whether, retiring from your weighty charge,
On some high theme you learnedly enlarge.
Swift. Epistle to Lord Carteret.

Stern, rugged nurse; thy rigid lore
With patience many a year she bore:
What sorrow was, thou bad'st her know,

And from her own she leara'd to melt at others' woe.

Gray. Hymn to Adversity.
Men that, if now alive, would sit content
And humble learners of a Saviour's worth,
Preach it who might.
Cowper. The Task, b. ii.
LEASE, v. Skinner says, "To leas corn,
LE'ASER. from the Dut. and Ger. Les-en,
collegere, legere, carpere, to collect, to gather."
The word is Goth. and A. S. Lis-an, les-an;
and the application, probably, consequential:
To gather or pick up, to collect, to glean,
(se.) that which is loose or scattered.

Agree, that in harvest used to lease:
But harvest done to chair work did aspire;
Meat, drink, and two pence was her daily hire.

Dryden. Theocritus, Idyl. 3. There was no office which a man from England might not have; and I looked upon all who were born here as only in the condition of leasers and gleaners.—Swift.

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A deed or instrument by which any lands or tenements are let, or demised, or the occupation of them granted to another. Applied (met.) as in Donne and Dryden, to any time or term granted.

Lessor, lessee, &c. are common legal terms.
And those not by chance
Made, or indenture, or leas'd out t'advance
The profits for a time.

B. Jonson. To the Memory of Sir Lucius Cary.
This land of such deere soules, this deere deere land,
Deere for her reputation through the world,
Is now leas'd out (I dye pronouncing it)
Like to a tenement or pelting farme.

Shakespeare. Rich. II. Act ii. sc. 1. And as it seemes and is most probable the benchers of this colledge [Lincolne's Inne] tooke an estate of long time by lease, soone after the deathe of the Earle of Lincolne. Slow. Of the Vniuersities in England, c. 14.

I could begin again to court and praise, And in that pleasure lengthen the short days Of my life's lease.-Donne. The Expostulation. They were all very sudainly inhabited, and stored with inmates, to the great admiration of the English nation, and aduantage of landlords and leasemongers. Stow. King James, an. 1604.

An infant Phenix from the former springs, His father's heir, and from his tender wings Shakes off his parent dust, his method he pursues, And the same lease of life on the same term renews. Dryden. Ovid. Metam. b. xv. The lands in America and the West Indies, indeed, are in general not tenanted nor leased out to farmers. Smith. Wealth of Nations, b. v. c. 3. In the Venetian territory, all the arable lands which are given in lease to farmers are taxed at a tenth of the rent. Id. Ib. b. v. c. 2.

}

LEASH, v. Fr. Lesse; It. Lassa. “A leash LEASH, n. to hold a dog, &c. in ; a bridle, or false rein to hold an horse by; any such long string," (Cotgrave.)

together with a leash, or lash. To leash dogs together is to tie or fasten them See LASH.

Leash, n. is applied to the number (3) usually leashed together.

Now it is behovely to tellen whiche ben dedly sinnes, that it is to say, chieftaines, for as moche as all they run in a lees, but in divers maners.-Chaucer. Persones Tale.

Then should the warlike Harry, like himself
Assume the port of Mars, and at his heels
(Leasht in, like hounds) should Famine, Sword, and Fire
Crouch for employment.-Shakespeare. Hen. V. Ch. 1.
Holding Corioles in the name of Rome,
Euen like a fawning greyhound in the leash.
Id. Coriolanus, Acti. sc. 6.

Or Cerberus himself pronounce A leash of languages at once.-Hudibras, pt. i. c. 1. The struggling greyhound gnaws his leash in vain ; If, when 'tis broken, still he drags the chain. Dryden. Persius, Sat. 5. LE'ASIE. This word has been found only in Ascham, and seems to be used by him as equivalent to vague; and may be intended as a derivative (with leasing, qv.) from A. S. Lease, mendax, fallax; fallacious.

LE'ASING.

For studying therebie to make everie thing straight and easie, in smoothing and playning all things to much, never leaveth, whiles the sense itselfe be left both lowse and leasie. Ascham. The Schole-master, b. ii. A. S. Leas, lease; falsus, LEASING-MONGERS. mendax, lying, false. Leasunge,-a lye, a falsehood. Skinner thinks leasing to have the same origin as losenger, (qv.) and losenger is derived by Junius from lose or loos, laus. (See Los.) The A. S. verb Hlys-an, which Somner interprets celebrare, illustrare, gives the noun hlis-a, fama, relatio, rumor, fame, report, rumour. Whence A. S. Leas, leas-unge; and Eng. Leas-ing. Lying rumour, false report; lying, falsehood, "Lat him enchantors," quoth Merlyn, "sone bi for me brynge, And ich wol preue bi fore the that hea telle that lesynge." R. Gloucester, p. 130. The sothe is to se, Without any lesyng. R. Brunne, p. 237. Whanne he spekith lesynge, he spekith of his owne : for he is a ligre, and fadir of it.—Wiclif. Jun, c. 8,

1201

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Piers Plouhman, p. 97.

And as a letherne pors. loited his chekus.
And by hire girdle heng a purse of lether.

Chaucer. The Milleres Tale, v. 3300. Clad with a garmente wouen of camel's heeres, and girded with a lethere girdill.-Udat. Matthew, c. 3.

The prices of that commodity [leather] rose to great, high, and unsupportable rates, which caused a proclamation dated from Westminster, June 1, that no manner of person should carry or export out of the realm any manner of leather, or salt hides, into any strange nation without express licence. Strype. Memorials. Edw. VI. an. 1548.

Her lips were, like raw lether, pale and blew.
Spenser. Faerie Queene, b. v. c. 12.
And in requital ope his leathern scrip,
And show me simples of a thousand names.

Milton. Comus.

Wormius calls this crust a leathery skin.-Grew. Museum. Not seeing that my limber wings

Were leather-like vnplum'de, But at the dawning also I

Of wing-worke still presum'de.

Warner. Albion's England, b. vii. c. 36

The adverse winds in leathern bags he brac'd, Compress'd their force, and lock'd each struggling blast. Pope. Homer. Odyssey, b. x The first said the wine tasted of iron; the other affirmed it had a twang of goat's leather; the owner protested the pipe was clean. Time passed on, the wine was sold, and when the pipe came to be cleaned, they found in it a small key, tied to a leathern thong. Smollett. Don Quixote, b. i. c. 13. The A. S. Laf-an-leof-an, linquere, relinquere ;-Leof-an, luf-an, linquere, vivere; also permittere, concedere. Ger. Leib-en, vivere, linquere; facere ut maneat, manere, superesse, relinqui.

LEAVE, v. LEAVE, n. LE'AVER.

LEAVING, n. LEAVELESS.

Sw.

Lef-wa, vivere, linquere. So these words are explained; but without any attempt to account for usages so different:-Live, leve, leave, (see the radical meaning-to stay or remain: thusLEVE, and BELIEVE), seem to be the same word: To live, to stay, to dwell, to remain, to abide; concede, or allow (any thing) to stay, abide or to cause to dwell, or abide; to let, suffer, permit, remain; to omit, to desist, to recede, to relinquish, to resign; to quit, to retire, to forsake, to depart from. (See LEFT.) And the n.Permission, concession, sufferance. AlsoDeparture and further;-certain formalities on or previous to departure.

Corineus saide, that he nolde nomen asche leue,
To honto and to wynne hys metę, and habbe solas and
game.
R. Gloucester, p. 13.
Bot Segbert of Estsex at home left stille.-R. Brunne, p. 3.
Our fredom that day for euer toke the leue.-Id. p. 71.
He toke Sigiferde's wife, withouten his fader leue.

Id. p. 46. Pees I leeue to ghou, my pees I ghyue to ghou, not as the world ghyueth I ghyue to ghou.-Wiclif. Jon, c. 14.

Peace I leue with you, my peace I geae vnto you. Not as the world geueth, geue I vnto you.-Bible, 1551. Ib. Wheras he saith, Leveth the vengeaunce to me, and I shal do it. Chaucer. The Tale of Melibeus, 10

Upon the wardein besily they crie,

To yeve hem leve but a litel stound,
To gon to mille, and seen her corn yground.
Chaucer. The Reves Tzle, v. 4005.
Within an yle me thought I was,
Where wall, and yate was all of glasse,
And so was closed round about,
That leauelesse none come in ne out.
This old Pandion, this king gan wepe
For tendernesse of herte, for to leve
His doughter gon, and for to yeve her leve,
Of all this world he loved nothing so.
But at the last leave hath she to go.

[d. Dreame.

Id. Legend of Philomene.

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For as much as this vertue is more estemed of the affeccion of the leauer, than of the greatness of the thyng that is leaft.-Udal. Matthew, c. 19.

Leave, ah! leave off, whatever wight thou bee,

To let a weary wretch from her due rest,
And trouble dying soules tranquilitee.

Spenser. Faerie Queene, b. ii. c. 1.
Val. Sweet Protheus, no: now let vs take our leave
At Millaine let me heare from thee by letters
Of thy successe in loue.

Shakespeare. Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act i. sc. 1.
Then let us not think hard

One easie prohibition, who enjoy

Free leave so large to all things else, and choice
Unlimited of manifold delights.-Milton. Par. Lost, b. iv.

-Hence with leave

Retiring from the popular noise, I seek
This unfrequented place to find some ease.

Id. Samson Agonistes.

Oh Anthony,

Forgiue me in thine owne particular,
But let the world ranke me in register
A master leauer and a fugitiue.

Id. Anthony & Cleopatra, Act iv. sc. 9.

The Queen provides companions of her flight,
They meet; and all combine to leave the state,
Who hate the tyrant, or who fear his hate.
They seize a fleet, which ready rigg'd they find:
Nor is Pigmalion's treasure left behind.

Dryden. Virgil. Æneis, d. i.
Short was your answer in your usual strain;
I take my leave nor wait on you again.

Francis. Horace, b. i. Sat. 6.

At length I'll loath each prostituted grace,
Nor court the leavings of a cloy'd embrace.

Yalden. The Force of Jealousy.

Scar'd at thy frown terrific, fly
Self-pleasing Folly's idle brood,
Wild Laughter, Noise, and thoughtless Joy,
And leave us leisure to be good.

Gray. Hymn to Adversity.
The untimely sound of the trumpet, the alarm and con-
fusion of the inhabitants, the threatning aspect of Cæsar,
are circumstances which the Historian discreetly leaves to
the imagination of his readers.-Eustace. Italy, vol. i. c. 7.
Like some poor fisher that, escap'd with life,
Will trust no more with elemental strife;
But sits in safety on the green bank side,
And lives upon the leavings of the tide.
Langhorn. Epistle to Mr.

LEAVE. See LEVY.

LE'AVEN, v.
LE'AVEN, n.
LE'AVENING, n.
LE'AVENOUS.

Fr. Levain; It. Lievito Sp. Levadura; all from the Lat. Levare, to raise, because it raises and lifts up the mass or lump, (of dough,) and also renders it lighter. Wiclif renders fermentum, sour dow.

To raise, to lighten, (sc. by the intermixture of another ingredient that may cause fermentation;) (met.) to intermix with a substance of less purity; to savour or season, stain, tinge, or imbue.

He is the leucin of the breade,

Whiche soureth all the paste about.-Gower. Con. A. b. iii.
A lytell leuen doth leue the whole lompe of dow.
Bible, 1551. Galathians, c. 5.

Duke. No more euasion:
We haue with a leauen'd, and prepared choice
Proceeded to you.
Shakespeare. Measure for Measure, Act i. sc. 1.
A little leaven of new distaste doth commonly soure the
whole lumpe of former merites.- Bacon. Hen. VII. p. 136.
So thoy Posthumus

Wilt lay the leuen on all proper men;
Goodly and gallant, shall be false and periur'd

For thy great faile. Shakespeare, Cymbeline. Act iii. sc. 4.

1

Troy. Haue I not tarried?

Other copies and various lections and words omitted, and Pan. I the boulting; but you must tarry the leau'ing.corruptions of texts and the like, these you are full of; but [leauening.]-Shakespeare. Troyl. & Cres. Act i. sc. 1. no footstep of any solid learning appears in all you have writ. Milton. A Defence of the People of Englund. This was a great and devout scholar, whose aid Alfred used in his disposition of lectures.

For our religion, where was there a more ignorant, pro-
phane, and vicious clergy, learned in nothing but the anti-
quity of their pride, their covetousness and superstition?
whose unsincere and levenous doctrine corrupting the people,
first taught them looseness, and bondage.
Milton. Answer to Eikon Basilike.

The cruel something, unpossess'd,
Corrodes, and leavens all the rest. Prior. The Ladle.
This powerful ferment, mingling with the parts,
The leaven'd mass to milky chyle converts.

LE/CHER, n.
LE'CHER, V.
LE/CHERY.
LE'CHEROUS.
LECHEROUSLY.

Blackmor The Creation, b. vi.

There in be no doubt
that Lecher is from the verb
to lick. Fr. Lecher or lescher.
Cotgrave says-Lecheresse,
a licorous or saucy woman,
LECHEROUSNESS.
lescheur, a licker; a licorous
companion; lescherie, licorousness, and in v. lie, to
leacher it, or get a lick at it.

A lecherous man or woman is a licorous man or
woman; though the word (lechery) is now confined

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These lectures must be read onely in the Tearme tymes : to euery lecturer, or reader, is prouided and allowed by this founder, fiftie pounds of annuall fee or stipend, and a fayre lodging within this his pallace like house.

Stow. Of the Vniuersities in England, c. 30. William Rufus was buryed at Winchester in the Cathedral Church, or Monastery of Saynt Swithen, vnder a playne flatte marble stone, before the lectorne in the queere. Id. William Rufus, an. 1099.

obliquely in the pulpit, and directly at the court, complainSome persons opened their mouthes against me, both ing of my too much indulgence to persons disaffected, and my too much liberty of frequent lecturings within my charge. Bp. Hall. Some Specialities in his Life.

to a particular lust, or desire; (sc.) for sexual in-worthy of such an undertaking, it was to preach Mr.Boyle's

tercourse.

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Lo Loth in hus lyue. yorowe lecherouse drinke
Wickedlich wroghte.
Piers Ploukman, p. 14.
But if he that is named a brothir among ghou, and is a
lechour, or couetous, or seruyng to idolis, or a cursere, or
ful of drunkenesse, or a raueynour, take not mete with
suche.-Wiclif. 1 Corynth. c. 5.

Ye han herd that it was seid to olde men thou shalt not

do leecherie.-Id. Matthew, c. 5.

The youngere sone went forth in pilgrimage into a fer

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In the year 1704, he [Clarke] was called forth to an office, Lecture, founded by that honourable gentleman, to assert and vindicate the great fundamentals of natural and revealed religion.-Clarke. Life, by Hoadley.

He [Tillotson] soon became lecturer at St. Laurence Jury, which he continued till his advancement to the see of Canterbury. Tillotson Life, by Birch.

The Lectionary contained all the lessons, which were directed to be read in the course of the year. Warton. Life of Sir T. Pope, p. 337.

If the teacher happens to be a man of sense, it must be an unpleasant thing to him to be conscious, while he is lecturing his students, that he is either speaking or reading nonsense, or what is very little better than nonsense. Smith. Wealth of Nations, b. v. c. 1.

I was informed by an acquaintance, that a certain clergyman in the city was about to resign his lectureship, and that he would probably resign in my favour, if I were early enough in my application.—Knox. Essays, No. 117.

LE'DEN. A. S. Lad-en, leden. Tyrwhitt adopts the opinion of Skinner, that leden is a corruption of Latin; and produces from Dante an instance of a similar usage of latino. Lye sup

countree and there he wastid his goodis: in lyuinge lecher-plies many instances of the A. S. used as an
adjective. "Of bec ledene on Englisc wende, he
rendered it from a Latin book into an English
one;" and others in which ledene is opposed to
English. There appears no reason to travel
further for the origin of the word. See (however)
Jamieson in v. Leed. Leden, it may be added, is
applied to the Latin or Roman people, as well as
to the language. See Lye, and the Gloss. to G.
Douglas. It is used, generally, to denote-
The language, or the peculiar language.
The queinte ring,

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They were slouthful to roote out vyce and to plante vertue,
and dryuen into ye profounde and depe sleepe of ygnoraunce,
of ydyĺness, of lecherousnesse, and of pryde.
Bible, 1551. Isaiah, c. 56. Notes.
The smai gilded fly

Do's letcher in my sight.-Shakespeare. Lear, Act iv. sc.6.
And next to him rode lustfull Lechery

Upon a bearded gote whose rugged heare,
And whally eies, (the signe oi gelosy,)

Was like the person selfe, whom he did beare:
Who rough and blacke, and filthy, did appeare.
Spenser. Faerie Queene, b. 1. c. 4.
The sleepy leacher shuts his little eyes;
About his churning chaps the frothy bubbles rise.
Dryden. Virgil, Geor. 3.
LE/CTUARY, i. e. Electuary, (qv.)

But all too late commeth the lectuarie
When men the corse unto the grave carie.

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Thurgh which she understood wel every thing
That any foule may in his leden sain,
And coude answere him in his leden again,
Hath understonden what this faucon seyd.

Chaucer. The Squieres Tale, v. 10,749.

Thereto he was expert in prophesies,
And could the ledden of the Gods unfold.

Spenser. Faerie Queene, b. iv. c. 11.
The ledden of the birds most perfectly she knew.
Drayton. Poly-Olbion, s. 12.
From the A. S. Lec-gan, ponere, to
A narrow board upon which we are wont to
lay small things, (Skinner.)

LEDGE.

lay.

That upon which we lay any thing; a narrow shelf; any thing prominent or projecting, in manner of such shelf, from the main surface; a ridge, a row.

Ye sydes were as it were flat borders between the ledges.
Bible, 1551. 3 Kings, c. 8.
Then that the lowest ledge or row be meerly of stone, and
the broader the better.-Reliquiæ Woltonianæ, p. 18.

Beneath a ledge of rocks his feet he hides;
Tall trees surround the mountain's shady sides:
The bending brow above, a safe retreat provides.
Dryden. Virgil. Æneis, b. 1.
That buoyant lumber may sustain you o'er
The rocky shelves and ledges to the shore.

Falconer. Shipwreck, c. 2.
LEE, n.
See BELEE. Lee is a place
LEEWARD. Secure from wind or weather; the
lee side of a ship is the side under or not exposed

to the wind; to be under the lee is to be under the wind or shelter from it; the lee-shore, on the contrary, appears to be the shore on, or opposed to, the lee-side of the ship, as she sails along; and consequently exposed to the wind. In Dutch, De loef hebben, to sail before the wind; Loeven, to ply to windward, (to luff.) Lorf, the weathergage. The Dut. and the Eng. Luff, lee, leeward, Tooke considers to be from the same root; the A. S. Luft; the air or the clouds; the wind. See LOOF, and LUFF.

As sea-men tell,

With fixed anchor in his skaly rind
Moores by his side under the see.-Milton. Pur. Lost, b. i.
Thus they generally reason: Barbadoes is the Easter-most

of the Carribbe Islands, therefore the rest are said to be lee-
ward of it, and so of any other island; as indeed it usually
holds true, because the winds there are commonly at East.
Dampier. Voyages, vol. ii. pt. ii. c. 2.

Which just like ours, how rigg'd and mann'd,
And got about a league from land

By change of wind to leeward side,

The pilot knew not how to guide. Swift. On the Union.

Though sorely buffeted by ev'ry sea.
Our hull unbroken long may try a lee.

Falconer. Shipwreck, c. 2.
Then might I with unrivall'd straines, deplore
Th' impervious horrours of a leeward shore.-Id. Ib. c. 3.

LEECH, v. A. S. Lace, from Lacn-ian, læcnLEECH, N. Sian, curare, mederi, sanari, to eure, to heal. The Dut. Laecke, hirudo, a horse leech, is derived by Kilian from Laecken, to lack or want; because it occasions a lack of blood, or from Lacus, because found in lakes or standing waters. It is probably the same word, (A. S. Lace,) and so applied, because the animal heals by withdrawing unwholesome blood.

Seeing now that I am entred thus far into a discourse of
onions I shall not do amisse to treate of leekes also, in re-
garde of the neare affinitie between them.
Holland. Plinie, b. xix. c. 5.

LEER, v.
LEER, n.
LE'ERING, n.

A. S. Hleare, hleor, maxilla, mandibula, the cheek, the jaw; it. facies, frons, vultus, the face, the countenance, (Somner.) Hence, says Lye, our Leer, lour; lour, or lowre, from the Dut. Loeren, Ger. Lauren, retortis et limis oculis intueri, to look upon with eyes thrown back or askance, (Skinner;) but see LOUR.

Lere, in Chaucer, is explained by Mr. Tyrwhitt to intend the skin. In Holland, it is applied to the general colour, complexion, or appearance. To leer may be

To look with the eye or eye-lid, somewhat
down-cast, or lowering; as if to attract or invite
attention or favour; and, thus, to assume or put
on an alluring look; to allure, to attract, by the
looks.

A loveliche lady of lere in linnen y clothid
Cam down fro that Castel and caide me by name.
Piers Plouhman, p. 13.
His face frounsed, his lere was like the lede.

Chaucer. The Testament of Creseide, p. 295.
You leere vpon me, do you? There's an eie
Wounds like a leaden sword.

Shakespeare. Love's Labour Lost, Act v. sc. 2.
Each eye through divers optics slily leers.

P. Fletcher. The Purple Island, c. 7.
No ladie (quoth the earle with a loud voice, and the tears
trilling down his leeres,) saie not so.
Holinshed. Ireland, an. 1546.

She giues the leere of inuitation.
Shakespeare. Merry Wiues of Windsor, Act i. sc. 3.
The same Theophrastus hath left in writing, That in some
and duskish, insomuch as not only the cattel is all of that
leere, but also the corne upon the ground, and other fruits
of the earth.-Holland. Plinie, b. xxxi. c. 2.

To cure, to heal; to practise the art of healing, places there are no other thing bred or growing but brown

the medicinal art.

Hys lechys loked hys stat, as her rygt was to done.

R. Gloucester, p. 380.
Ne non so faithfol fysician. for alle that by souhte
He lechede hem of here langour.-Piers Plouhman, p.311.
Ihesus seide to hem hoole man han no neode to a leche.
Wiclif. Mark, c. 2.
Chaucer. Dreame.

And purpose you to heare his speech
Fully auised him to leech.

Well wist that lord that I was seke
And would be leched wonder faine.
The clotered blood, for any leche-craft,
Corrumpeth.

Id. Ib.

Id. The Knightes Tale, v. 2747.

All other leches he forsoke,
And put him out of auenture
Alonly to God's cure. Gower. Con. 4. b. ii.
Home is he brought; and laid in sumptuous bed
Where many skillful leaches him abide
To salve his hurts, that yet still freshly bled.

Spenser. Faerie Queene, b. i. c. 5.

The hors-leeches which we call in Latine sanguisugus, (bloud-suckers) are used for to draw blood. Holland. Plinie, b. xxiii. c. 10.

So are leeches destructive, and by some accounted poison; because being inwardly taken they fasten upon the veins, and occasion an effusion of blood which cannot be easily stanched.-Brown. Vulgar Errours, b. ii. c. 5.

Yet he [M. Cato] omitted not the leech-craft belonging also to kine and oxen.-Holland. Plinie, b. xxv. c. 2. Beldame, by that ye tell

More neede of leach-craft hath yon damozell
Then of my skill.-Spenser. Faerie Queene, b. iii. c. 3.
But like a leech well fix't, he'll suck what's good,
And never part till satisfied with blood.

King. Art of Cookery. Leeches are good barometers when preserved in glasses, and predict bad weather by their great restlessness and change of place.-Pennant. Zoology, vol. iv. The Leech.

LEEK, n. A. S. Lec, leac; Dut. Look; Ger. Lauch; Sw. Loek. A. S. "Leac. Allium porrum, a leak, a general name of a certain kind of hearbs," (Somner.) The etymology is unknown.

Vor yt wolde fynde hem lek worten y now by the gere.

R. Gloucester, p. 341.
Thou fisshes not worth a leke, rise & go thi ways.
R. Brunne, p. 204.

As lynne seed and lik seed.—Piers Plouhman, p. 211.
I hold a mouse's wit not worth a leke.

Chaucer. The Wif of Bathes Prologue, v. 6154.

Footra for leers, and learings; O the noise,
The noise we made.

Beaum. & Fletch. Monsieur Thomas, Act iv. sc. 2.
But Bertran has been taught the arts of court,
To gild a face with smiles; and leer a man to ruin.
Dryden. The Spanish Fryar, Act i.
llere Fannia, leering on her own good man.
Pope. Moral Essays, Epist. 2.
The proud Parnassian sneer
The conscious simper, and the jealous leer
Mix in his look.
Id. The Dunciad, b. ii.
The clerk's head is admirably well painted and with great
force; but he is dozing not leering at the young woman
near him as in the print.
Walpole. Anecdotes of Painting, vol. iv. c. 4.

While brooding storms the gath'ring ruin rein,
Her son with dire dissembling leer she seeks,
And in the depth of smiling malice speaks.

Brooke. Constantia.

Rivers, whose depth no sharp beholder sees,
Drunk at an army's dinner, to the lees.

Dryden. Juvenal, Sat. 10

Spoil'd of its limpid vehicle, the blood
A mass of lees remains, a drossy tide
That slow as Lethe wanders thro' the veins.

Armstrong. The Art of Preserving Health, b. i
LEESE. See LOSE.

LEET, n. Spelman rejects the A. S. Lath, from Lath-ian, ge-lathian, congregare, q. d. the assembly or assize, because equally applicable to any other court, which seems scarcely a sufficient reason; priority of appropriation might decide the distinction. He further suggests let, pars, parvus, or læt, censura, arbitrium. See his Gloss. in v. Leta. For whether in letes they may or not, yt he saith he douteth. Sir T. More. Workes, p. 1012.

M. Lambert seemeth to be of the opinion, that the leets of our time doo yeeld some shadow of the politike institution of Alfred.-Holinshed. Description of England, b. ii. c. 4.

The jurisdiction of these leets is either remaining in the king, and in that case exercised by the sheriff in his turn, which is the grand leet, or granted over to subjects, but yet it is still the king's court.-Bacon. The Office of Constable.

The other general business of the leet and tourn was to present by jury all crimes whatsoever that happened within their jurisdiction; and not only to present, but also to punish, all trivial misdemesnors. Blackstone. Commentaries, b. iv. c. 19.

LEFE. See LIEF.

LEFT, adj. Dut. Lufte hand, luchte hand, sinistra. The left hand is that which is leaved, leav'd, left; or which we are taught to leave out of use when one hand only is employed, (Tooke, vol. ii. p. 10.)

In the rigt syd two, and in the lift syde on.
R. Gloucester, p. 22.
But to sitte at my right half or left-half is not myn to gyve
to you but to which it is maad redy.-Wiclif. Mark, c. 10.
Ant. Octauius, leade your battaile softly on
Vpon the left hand of the euen field.

Octa. Vpou the right hand I, keepe thou the left.
Ant. Why do you crosse me in this exigent?
Shakespeare. Julius Cæsar, Act v. sc. 1.
But as although a squint left-handedness
B' ungracious, yet we cannot want that hand.
Donne. To the Countess of Bedford.
I remember to have read in a voyage of De Gama's to
Kalekut (the first made by the Portuguese round Africa)
that the people of Melinda, a polished and flourishing
people, are all left-handed.
Tooke. Diversions of Purley, vol. ii. c. 1.

LEG, n. Skinner,-from the Dut. Leegh, LE'GGED. humilis, infra positus, low, placed below. Junius, from A. S Under-lec-gan, supponere, suffulcire, to support or sustain; and it is probably from the A. S. Lec-gan, ponere, meaning,Any thing placed, (sc.) as a support, to stand

upon.

To make a leg,-a common expression, intending-to bow with the leg drawn or thrown back

which Wachter derives from lieren, perdere, omit-wards.
LEER. A. S. Ge-lær; Ger. Lær, vacans, iners,
tere, and this by a common change of s into r, from
lies-en, to lose. And, thus,-

A leer drunkard, will be a loose drunkard, a disso-
lute, profligate drunkard; "The horse runs lere,”
i. e. loose, away. A leer stomach may be, conse-
quentially, an empty stomach; because loose,
slack, not well filled out. See Gifford on the
passage quoted from Jonson, and Nares, in v.

Love. Laugh on, sir, I'll to bed and sleep.
And dream away the vapour of love, if the house
And your leer drunkards let me.
B. Jonson. The New Inn, Act iv. sc. 3.
The horse runnes leere away without the man,
But noble Bradamant, the horse doth stay,
And backe restore.

LEES.

Harrington. Orlando Furioso, b. xvi. s. 64. Fr. Lie, from the A. S. Lic-gan, to lay or ly, that which lies, (sc.) at the bottom. See the quotation from Holinshed in v. Liquid. sediment.

That which lies or settles at the bottom; the

Verely the lees of wine are so strong, that oftentimes it overcommeth and killeth those, who go down into the vats and vessels wherein the wine is made.

Holland. Plinie, b. xxiii. c. 11.

The legges bare bynethe the kne, that me mygte eche
stape yse.
R. Gloucester, p. 388.
Hire shoon were laced on hire legges hie.

Chaucer. The Milleres Tale, v. 3268.

But when they came to Jesus, and sawe that he was deade alreadye they breake not his legges.—Bible, 1551. John, c.19.

But the sea keeping hir course, rose still higher and higher, and ouerflowed not onlie the king's feet, but also flashed vp vnto his legs and knees.

Holinshed. History of England, b. vii. c. 13.

He knew how many leggs a knight letts fall
Betwixt the king, the offering and his stall.

Corbet. To the Lord Mordant.
They be clothed with a mantell and shirte saffroned after
the Irish manner going bare legged to the knee.
Stow. Briefe Description of England.

How the pale primrose and blue violet spring,
And birds essay their throats, disus'd to sing:
All these are ours; and I with pleasure see
Men strutting on two legs, and aping me.

Dryden. The Cock and the Fos.
The shapeless pair,

As they design'd to mock me, at my side
Take step for step, and, as I near approach
The cottage, walk along the plaster'd wall,
Prepost'rous sight! the legs without the man.

Cowper. Task, b. v.

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