Taus 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; To where the lemon and the piercing lime,

With the deep orange, glowing through the green, Their lighter glories blend.

Thomson. Summer.

For Saresyns mowe be saved so. yf the [they] so by leyvede In the lengthynge of here 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. i. 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 comaundemēt as Dauid thy father dyd walke, I wyll lengthen thy dayes also.—Bible, 1551. 3 Kinges, c. 3. He desireth not the lengthening 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 condy scended and graunted hym the lengthyng of his lyf for xv. yeares. Sir T. More. Workes, p. 316.

LEND, v. LE'NDER.

wan;

Observer, No. 15. Goth. Leigan, leicwan, leihA. S. Læn-an, lihan, lendLE'NDING, n. an, alend-an; Dut. Leen-an; 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 mares had he lent abbeis
That wer in pouerte, vp tham forto reise.

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. 1b.

And he answerde, tweye dettouris weren to oo lener.
Wiclif. Luke, c. 7.
There was a certaine lender which had two detters.
Bible, 1551. Ib.

And knowes ful wel life doth but length his paine. Mirrour for Magistrates, p. 264. 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
To deathles pain?
Milton. Paradise Lost, b. x.
Behold him sitting in his Western skies,
The shadows lengthening as the vapours rise.

Dryden. Absalom & Achitophel.
The driver whirls his lengthful thong;
The horses fly, the chariot smokes along.
Pope. Homer. Iliad, b. xi.
Steeds of hardier kind,
And cool, tho' sprightly, to the travell'd road
He destines; sure of foot, of steady pace,
Active, and persevering, uncompell'd,
The tedious length of many a beaten mile.
Dodsley. Agriculture, c. 3.
Should it be said, that by continual endeavours to shoot
out the tongue to the stretch, the woodpecker's species may
by degrees have lengthened the organ itself, beyond that of
other birds, what account can be given of its form, of its
Milton. Paradise Lost, b. ix. tip? how, in particular, did it get its barb, its dentation?
Paley. Natural Theology, c. 13.
But this objection comes to me with an ill grace from you,
who have expressed such frequent nausea and disgust at
the any-lengthian Lord with his numerous strings.
Tooke. Div. of Purley, pt. ii. c. 8.

Watches no doubt, with greedy hope to find His wish and best advantage, us asunder, Hopeless to circumvent us joyn'd, where each To other speedy aide might lend at need.

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.

LENGTH, v.

See LOINS.

A. S. Lang-ian; Dut. LENGTH, n. Langhen; Ger. Langen; LENGTHEN, v. extendere, porrigere, proLENGTHENING, n. trahere, to extend or stretch LENGTHFUL. out, to draw out, to inLENGTHYNG, 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. Gloucester, p. 385.
& cleymed him for ther chefe of West and of Est,
Of North & of South in length & in brede.

R. Brunne, p. 19.

LENIENT, adj.
LENIENT, n.
LE NIFY, V.
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.) op

posed 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 lenifie 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,
To rock the cradle of reposing age,
With lenient arts extend a mother's breath
Make languor smile, and smooth the bed of death.
Pope, Prologue to the Satires.
But we allow lenitives, as cassia, tamarinds, manua.
Wiseman. Surgery, b. y. c. 1.
Their pain, soft arts of pharmacy can ease,
Thy breast alone no lenitives appease.
Pope. Homer. Iliad, b. xvi.

O think what transports must thy bosom feel,
Thy Tancred's wounds, with lenient hand to heal!
Hoole. Jerusalem Delivered, b. vi.

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. Lat. Lens,(perhaps-quod humida et lenta est, vel quod adhæret humi, (Isiis 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."

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 glasses: 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 1.

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 purpose.-Wiseman. Surgery, b. v. c. 9.

Vile vetches would you sow, er lentils lean,
The growth of Egypt, or the kidney bean.

Dryden. Virgil. Georgics, b. i.

LENT, n. Dut. Lent; Ger. Lenz; A. S. LENTEN. Leneten, lengten, ver, the spring. Minshew says, from Ger. Glentz; and Camden,that our ancestors, the Germans, used glent for spring. Wachter notices no such word, but in v. Lenz, (from which (with the common prefix ge-) glentz might be formed,) he enumerates four dif ferent etymologies: 1st, from length, because at the season of spring the days lengthen; 2dly, from lenitas, because then the air becomes mild or

lenient; 3dly, glentzen, to shine or glisten, because

it is the most brilliant or beautiful season; 4thly, from the Dut. Lenten, to dissolve, because the severity of winter is then dissolved.

As Lent is or was a season of fasting, lenten is abstemious, sparing.

And suththe about Leynte toward thys lond drou. R. Gloucester, p. 187 Sithhen in the Lenten tide he went to Saynt Andrew. R. Brunne, p. 325 Thilke penance, that is solempne, is in two maneres; as to be put out of holy chirche in Lenton for slaughter of children, and swhiche maner thing.-Chaucer. The Persones Tale.

All were served with covered messes of silver, but all the feast was fish, in observation of the Lent season.

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 tinct more, than a very great quantity of brasil or wine. Bacon. Naturall Historie, s. 857.

By reason of their clamminess and lentor they [arborescent holi-hocks) are banished from our sallet.-Evelyn. Acetaria. In this spawn [frog's) of a lentous and transparent body, are to be discerned many specks. Brown. Vulgar Errours, b. iii. c. 13. LENTISCK. Fr. Lentisque; Lat. Lentiscus, quod ipsa lentescat arbor, dum resinam fundit, (Vossius.)

Who courteous bad us on soft beds recline
Of lenstiscks, and young branches of the vine.

If he was of such tenderness and compassion as to heal the leprosy and distemper of the body upon asking, do we not think that he will be much redier to commiserate and

heal the dangerous, loathsome leprosy of the soul, which is sin, upon the vehement entreaties of a sincere heart. South, vol. vi. Ser. 12. This pleasing fruit [the cashew] if turtle join its aid, Removes that worst of ails, disgrace of art, The lothsome leprosy's infectious bane.

LE/PID.

Grainger. The Sugar Cane, b. iv. Lat. Lepidus, from Lepos, applied (met.) to a polished wit or humour, from Gr. Aeris, a scale. Having a polished wit or humour, a graceful or agreeable pleasantry or facetiousness; pleasant,

The certain issue of the strife divin'd,
As sure a prize, as when the leopard draws
The fearful hare within his ravenous paws.

LEPER. LE PEROUS. LEPRO'SITY. LE PROSY. LE PROUS.

LE PROUSLY.

Hoole. Orlando Furioso, b. xxvi.

Fr. Lèpre; It. Lebbra; Sp. Lepra; Lat. Lepra; Gr. Aenpa, from Aeros, or Aeris, a scale.

Leprosy, see the quotation from Wiseman. Applied met.

Leper (usually the person diseased) is in Wiclif-the disease itself.

And lo a leprous man cam and worschipide him, and seid, Lord, if thou wilt, thou maist make me clene-And anoon the lepre of him was clensid.-Wichf. Matthew, c. 8.

And lo, there came a leper, and worshipped him saying: Master, yf thou wylt, thou canst make me clene. And immediately his leprosye was clensed.-Bible, 1551. Ib.

He looked on her ugly lepers face

The which before was white as lely floure,
Wringing his hands.-Chaucer. Complaint of Creseide.
Lying emong the leper-folke alas.-Id. Ib.
A leper-lady rose, and to her wend.-Id. Ib.
This 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.
Whan he was in his lustie age

The lepre caught in his visage.-Gower. Con. A. b. ii. 37. Therefore also he healed all that had faith to be healed, both good men and bad. The ten lepers; though but one returned, to give glory to God. That no man, never so bad, should doubt of his salvation, upon believing. Grew. Cosmo. Sacra, b. v. c. 3. s. 37.

Vpon my secure hower thy vncle stole
With inyce of cursed hebenon in a violl,
And in the porches of mine eares did poure

The leperous distilment.-Shakespeare. Hamlet, Act i. sc.5.
By thee the silly amorous sucks his death,
By drawing in a leprous harlot's breath.

Donne. The Perfume, Elegy 4. For to say, that Nature hath an intention to make all metals gold and that, if the crudities, impurities, and leprosities of metals were cured, they would become gold, all these are but dreames.-Bacon. Naturall Historie, § 326.

O you of easy wax! do but imagine,

Now the disease has left you, how leprously
That office would have cling'd unto your forehead.

Tourneur. The Revenger's Tragedy, Act v.

The leprosy of the Arabians was a quite other disease [from the itch] which by the Greeks is called elephantiasis, and is nothing else but an universal cancer of the whole body, black, and indeed a most miserable disease; but I think scarce known in England.

Wiseman. Surgery. b. i. c. 25.

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.-Burrow, vol. i. Ser. 14.

LERE, v.
LERE, n.
LE'RING, R.
LORE.
Lo'RING, 7
LORESMAN.
Constantyn lette also in Jerusalem chirches rere,
And wyde aboute elles wer, Christendom to lere.

i. e. to Learn, (qv.)

To learn or teach; to instruct. And Lore, learning; teaching, doctrine, instruction.

To diminish, to decrease, to reduce.

Lest,-(see the quotation from Gower) and least (see the quotation from Bale's Votaries) are used as the regular past tense, contracted from les-ed or leas-ed, of the A. S. verb Le-an; and whether used as adjective or conjunction, are considered by Tooke to be this same past tense or past part. and, with the article that (either expressed or understood,) mean no more than-hoc dimisso or quo dimisso. He produces two instances of the improper use of them, there being nothing expressed or understood in either sentence, quo dimisso, something else would follow.

Less.--Our ancestors the A. S. instead of eighteen, nineteen, said, An læs twentig, twa las twentig; i. e. twenty dismiss (or take away) (he should perhaps rather have said withhhold) one, 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, (again add, of withholding) is conveyed. Les, then, he pronounces to be the imperative of the same A. S. verb, Les-an, and to signify-dimitte or hoc dimisso, dismiss this, or this being dismissed. It is sometimes used for unless, (qv.) In confirmation, he remarks, that the Gr. E un, the Lat. R. Gloucester, p. 87. Nisi, (ne sit,) It. Se non, Sp. Si no, Fr. Si non, all 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 immediately suit in all cases, as that cannot be with propriety said to be dismissed, separated, or taken away, which was never united to, or p sessed 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

The lerid & the lewid, that wonned in the South.

R. Brunne, p. 38.

What tyme I left this lore the day is for to witen.

Id.

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.
Goldsmith was less in size than Johnson.
Chaucer. The Frankeleines Tale, v. 11,006. he never was equal, it was not by the privation,

But, lordes, wol ye maken assurance,
As I shall say, assenting to my lore.

Id. The Man of Lawes Tule, v. 4762.
He waited after no pompe ne reverence,
Ne maked him no spiced conscience.
But Christes lore, and his apostles twelve,
He taught, but first he followed it himself.

Id. Prol. to the Canterbury Tales, v. 729.

My fader but I were inspired
Through lore of you, I wot no waye
What gentilnesse is for to seye.-Gower. Con. A. b. vi.
The loresman of the shepeherdes,
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.

loss, or taking away of bulk once possessed that he became less or minor; it was by the absence or negation of that, which had been withheld in 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. The like may be said of the adjective least. As now used

To less or lessen, is to diminish, to decrease; to cause to be smaller or more minute; to lower, to

Drayton. Poly-Olbion, s. 12. degrade, to impair, to weaken.

The gentle shepheard sat beside a springe,
All in the shadowe of a bushye brere,
That Colin hight, which well coulde pype and singe,
For hee of Tityrus his songes did lere.

Spenser. Shepheard's Calender. December.
Thereto she learned was in magicke leare.
Id. Faerie Queene, b. iv. c. 3.
But these conditions doe to him propound;
That, if I vanquishe him, he shall obey
My law, and ever to my lore be bound.
Id. Ib. b. v. c. 5.
Most men admire
Virtue, who follow not her lore.

Millon. Paradise Regained, b. i.
That all they, as a goddess her adoring,
Hir wisdome did admire, and hearkned to her loring.
Spenser. Faerie Queene, b. v. c. 8.

He, with Palemon, oft recounted o'er
The tales of hapless love in ancient lore,
Recall'd to memory by th' adjacent shore.
Falconer. Shipwreck, c. 1.
See LEER.

"He lest," (Gower,) he lost. "He least," (Bale,) he dismissed, he put away, he relinquished. "Lessed of his care;" (written by Tyrwhitt as in the second quotation from Gower-lissed, qv.) "of his wound ylessed;" i. e. loosened, freed, relieved from.

Less, adj.-equivalent to the Lat. Minor, inferior, smaller, more minute. It is still used, compared, (sc.) lesser.

Lest, or least,-smallest, minutest; than which not any thing is smaller or more minute.

So that to the lasse Briteyne ther ne com aliue non.
R. Gloucester, p. 96.
Id. p. 26.

Me schulde fynde the les such spouse bruche do.

R. Brunne, p. 174. than he.-Wiclif. Matt. c. 11. But he that is lesse in the kyngdom of heavenes: is more

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 crowyng or the mornyng lest whan he come sodeynly he the house cometh in the eventide or at mydnight or at cockis 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 so lenlye 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 clepid the leest in the rewme of hevenes. Wielif. 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,
Bet is to wedde than brenne in worse wyse.

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.

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 lest wayès, 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 må? 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.

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,
Or aught by me immutablie foreseen,
They trespass, anthors to themselves in all
Both what they judge and what they chose.

Milton. Paradise Lost, b. iii.
Words which no eare ever to hear in heav'n
Expected, least of all from thee, ingrate,
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 see what islands might there be found.

Holinshed. The Description of Britaine, c. 14. Juba. Cato, thou hast a daughter. Calo. Adieu, young prince; I would not hear a word Should lessen thee in my esteem..

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

termination, and will allow of more and also of the additional adverbial termination ly, and the nominal, ness.

LE'SSON, v. Fr. Leçon; It. Lettione; Sp. LE'SSON, n. Lecion; Lat. Lectio, from legere, to read. See LECTURE.

A reading, a sermon or discourse read; (sc.) to teach, to instruct, to improve; to reprove. And the verb,

To teach, to improve, to reprove. Now salle we turne ageyn tille our owen lessoun. R. Brunne, p. 31. Ich lerned among Lombardes. a lesson. Piers Plouhman, p. 99. Emprinteth wel this lesson in your minde. Chaucer. The Clerkes Tale, v. 9069. And so recorde I my lesson. Gower. Con. A. b. iv. Brut. Could you not haue told him As you were lesson'd.-Shakes. Coriolanus, Act ii. sc. 3. Ophe. I shall th' effect of this good lesson keepe, As watchmen to my heart.-Id. Hamlet, Act i. sc. 3. 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 opinion's 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. 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 hinIt is still a common

LET, v.
LET, n.
Le'tter.

LE'TTING, n.

der, keep back or behind. 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. There was no stone, there was no roote, Whiche might letten hem the weie, But all was voide and take a waie.-Gower. Con. A. b. iv. There ben other vices slowe, Whiche vnto loue do great lette, If thou thyn herte vpon them sette. If there ne were no lettynge.

Id. Ib. b. iv. Id. Ib.

And all the while their malice they did whet
With cruell threats his passage through the ford to let.
Spenser. Faerie Queene, b. iii. c. 5.
Wherto when as my presence he did spy
To be a let, he bad me by and by
For to alight.

Id. Ib. b. vi. c. 2.
And my speach entreats,
That I may know the let, why gentle Peace
Should not expell these inconueniencies,
And blesse vs with her former qualities.

Shakespeare. Hen. V. Aet v. sc. 2. All lets thrown behind me, Or fears that may deter me, say, this morning I mean to visit her. Massinger. The Virgin-Martyr, Act i. sc. 1. 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.

To leave, to relinquish, to resign, to yield or give up, to concede, to desist. To give or grant, (sc. the possession or occupation;) to give or grant, to allow, to permit, to authorize, to give permission or authority.

Y buryed he was at London, that he lette first rere.
R. Gloucester, p. 23.

And Ethelbert in the felde his fader lete he se,
How Dardan for his lance doun to the erth went.
And smote his hede of, his fader to present.

R. Brunne, p. 18 Lete the dede men birie her dede men. Wiclif. Matthew, c. 8. Folowe me, & let the deade burye their dead.

Bible, 1551. Ib. Sothly, if I coude, I wold tell you the ten commandments, but so high doctrine I lete to divines. 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. ii. c. 6

Id. Ib. b. i.

Id. Paradise Regaired, 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 to 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. i.
The soul's dark cottage, battered and decay'd,
Lets in new light, through chinks that time has made.
Waller. On his Divine Poems.

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. 4. The horn-gate, plain, homely, and transparent, leis out true dreams.-Jortin, Dis. 6.

By the common law, all persons seised of any estate might let leases to endure so long as their own interest lasted, but no longer.-Blackstone. Commentaries, b. ii. s. 20.

LET, ter. Lye remarks that the A. S. Lyt-el, diminutionis gratia, ex more A. Saxonum præpositum, as Lytel æcer, agellus; lytel boc, libellus; and the same lyt-post-positum, may have furnished our diminutive termination-let.

ful.

LETHARGY, n. LETHARGY, V. LETHARGICK.

LETHARGICALLY.

LETHARGICALNESS.

LETHARGICKNESS.

Fr. Léthargie, létargie; It. Lethargio, letargo; Sp. Lethargin; Lat. Lethargia, lethargus ; Gr. Ληθαργος, from Anon, forgetfulness, and upyos, sluggish, sloth

A sluggish, drowsy forgetfulness, or state of forgetfulness; drowsiness or sleepiness to an excess. Do's Lear, walke thus? speake thus? Where are his eies? either his notion weakens, or his discernings are

lethargied.—Shakespeare. Lear, Act i. sc. 4.

So thou, sick world, mistak'st thyself to be
Well, when, alas! thou'rt in a lethargy.

Donne. An Anatomy of the World. First Anniversary.
Forget this world, and scarce think of it so,
As of old clothes cast off a year ago.
To be thus stupid is alacrity:

Men thus lethargic have best memory.

Id. Of the Progress of the Soul. Second Anniversary. Sure I am it [the desire of rule] is more imprinted in

Cowley. On the Government of Oliver Cromwell ·

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,
With other men, was now nor great nor brave.
Otway. Windsor Castle.
These, lightly skimming, when they swept the plain,
Nor ply'd the grass nor bent the tender grain;
And when along the level seas they flew,
Scarce on the surface curl'd the briny dew.

Pope. Homer. Iliad, b. xx.

The river Tiber is expressed lying along, for so you must remember to draw rivers, to express their levelness with the earth.-Peacham. On Drawing.

While oaths divine the willing nations bound,
Ne'er to return, till our victorious pow'rs
Had level'd with the dust the Theban tow'rs.

Wilkie. The Epigoniad, b. i.

For want of some standard of this sort, we frequently see an author's taste in writing alter much to the worse in the course of his life; and his later productions fall below the level of his early essays.

Stewart. Of the Human Mind, c. 5. pt. ii. s. 2. The setting sun now beams more mildly bright, The shadows lengthening with the level light. Beattie, Past. 2. 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,
It affrayed the Sarizins, as leuen the fire out schete.
R. Brunne, p. 174.
With wilde thonder dint and firy leuen,
Mote thy welked nekke be to-broke.

Chaucer. The Wif of Bathes Prologue, v. 5858.

Sins that the fire of gods and king of men
Strake me with thonder, and with leauening blast.
Surrey. Virgile. Æneis, b. ii.

As when the flashing levin haps to light
Vppon two stubborne oakes.

Spenser. Faerie Queene, b. v. c. 7.

LE'VER. 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. Wilkins. Archimedes, c. 4.

Rous'd from repose, aloft the sailors swarm,
And with their levers soon the windlass arm

Falconer. Shipwreck, c. 1. LEVERET. Fr. Lievret, levereteau, dim. of Lièvre. It. Lepre, lepretto; Sp. Liebre, liebrecilla ; Lat. Lepus, a hare.

A young hare.

Fair hand! that can on virgin-paper write,
Yet from the stain of ink preserve it white;
Whose travel o'er the silver field does show,
Like track of leverets in morning snow.

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.

LE VESEL. Skinner writes it Levesell, or 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.

He loketh up and down, til he hath found
The clerkes hors, that as he stood ybound,
Behind the mille, under a levesell.

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. First, he that led the cavalcate, Wore a sow-gelder's flagellate, On which he blew as strong a level,

As well-feed lawyer on his breviate.-Hudibras, pt. ii. c.2.

LEVIATHAN, n. The word is Hebrew; the Septuagint renders it Apakwv, a dragon, and ηtos, 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. Į Lat. Levigare, from LEVIGATE, adj. Levis, (pro glabro politoque,) smooth, and polished. Gr. Aetos, (Vossius.) 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 Governour, 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 levigated 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. Speiman. 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 points equal.-Milton. Reason of Church Government, b. i.

LEVITY. 1 It. Levità; Sp. Levedad; Lat. LEVITATION. Levitas; from levis, light, which Vossius thinks is from Gr. Aeris, cortex, qui levis

simus.

See LEVY.

Lightness; (met.) fickleness, changeableness; instability or unsteadiness, inconstancy; frivolity, opposed both lit. and met. to gravity.

But where the bodies are of such several levitie, and gravity, as they mingle not, there can follow no imbibition. Bacon. Naturall Historie, § 865. Levity, whereby, what we call light bodies swim; a thing no less useful in the world than its opposite, gravity, is in many respects, to divers tribes of animals, but particularly serviceable to the rising up of vapours, and to their convey. ance about the world.-Derham. Physico-Theol. b. i. c. 5. So swiftly mov'd their feet, they might with ease, Scarce moisten'd, skim along the glassy seas, Or with a wondrous levity be borne O'er yellow harvests of unbending corn.

Eusden. Ovid. Met. b. x.

Letters got abroad, which the author was ashamed of as very trivial things, full not only of levities, but of wrong judgments of men and books, and only excusable from the youth and inexperience of the writer.

Pope. The Dunciad, b. ii. Note. The lungs also of birds, as compared with the lungs of quadrupeds, contain in them a provision, distinguishingly calculated for the same purpose of levitation. Paley. Natural Theology, c. 12. s. 4.

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 workinan for ever. Smith. Wealth of Nations, b. v. c. 1.

V.

LEVY,
LEVY, n.
LE VIABLE.
LE'VYING, n.

Fr. Lever; It. Levare; Sp. Lebar, Lat. Levare, to raise:

See LEVITY.

To raise, to lift up, to lift off, (to bear off, to carry away,) to colect 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-
peralte.
R. Brunne, p. 89. Note.

And after all an army strong she leav'd,
To war on those which him had of his realme bereav'd.
Spenser. Faerie Queene, b. ii. c. 10.

The duke is straight advised to retire
Into the bounds of Wales, to lery aid.

Daniel. Civil Wars, b. vi

Another law for the benevolence, to make the sums which leviable by course of law.-Baker. Hen. VII. an. 1508. any had agreed to pay, and were not brought in, to be

Not to speake of their infamous learying 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. 68.

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 Smith. Wealth of Nations, b. iii. c. 3.

erected in it a booth or stall to sell them in.

LEWD.

LE/WDLY. LE/WDNESS.

LE'WDSTER.

Gower. Con. A. b. iv.

Skinner's first suggestion is the A. S. Be-law-an, prodere, to betray or mislead; and Tooke confirms it to be the A. S. Lawed, the past part. of Law-an, prodere, tradere, to delude, to mislead. It was applied to the (lay) people in distinction from the clergy. (See LAY.) Somner says,-Lawede, lawed-man; Laicus, a laick, layman. And see the first quotation from Robert of Gloucester.

Lewd means—misled, led astray, deluded, imposed upon, betrayed into error, and thus is almost equivalent to wicked, i. e. beguiled. In its modern application it is confined to those who are betrayed