leaven
English
Etymology
From Middle English levayn, borrowed from Old French levain, from Vulgar Latin *levāmen, a noun based on Latin levō (“raise”).
Pronunciation
Noun
leaven (countable and uncountable, plural leavens)
- Any agent used to make dough rise or to have a similar effect on baked goods.
- (figurative) Anything that induces change, especially a corrupting or vitiating change.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Mark 8:15:
- Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.
- 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXXVI, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 299:
- On the far side was reflected a single red and meteoric cloud, which had treasured one last crimson ray from the sunset, or perhaps nursed within it the fiery leaven.
- 1926, T.E. Lawrence, Seven Pillars of Wisdom, New York: Anchor, published 1991, page 213:
- The leaven of insincerity worked through all the fibres of his being.
Synonyms
- (any agent used to make dough rise): leavening agent, raising agent
Hypernyms
Hyponyms
- (any agent used to make dough rise): baking powder, yeast
Derived terms
Translations
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Verb
leaven (third-person singular simple present leavens, present participle leavening, simple past and past participle leavened)
- (transitive) To add a leavening agent.
- (transitive) To cause to rise by fermentation.
- (transitive, figuratively) To temper an action or decision.
- c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
- Duke. No more euasion:
We haue with a leauen'd, and prepared choice
Proceeded to you; therefore take your honors:[...]
- 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page vii:
- With fresh material, taxonomic conclusions are leavened by recognition that the material examined reflects the site it occupied; a herbarium packet gives one only a small fraction of the data desirable for sound conclusions. Herbarium material does not, indeed, allow one to extrapolate safely: what you see is what you get […]
- (transitive, figuratively) To imbue; to infect; to vitiate.
- 1649, John Milton, Eikonoklastes[1], London, published 1756, page 30:
- With these and the like deceivable doctrines, he levens also his prayer.
- 1716, Thomas Browne, edited by Samuel Johnson, Christian Morals[2], 2nd edition, London: J. Payne, published 1756, Part I, p. 7:
- […] pursue virtue virtuously: leven not good actions, nor render virtues disputable. Stain not fair acts with foul intentions […]
- To rise or become larger; to prove. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
Alternative forms
- leven (obsolete)
Derived terms
Translations
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See also
German
Etymology
Verb
leaven (third-person singular present leavt, past tense leavte, past participle geleaved or geleavt, auxiliary haben or sein)
Conjugation
As an anglicism, the conjugation appears to be quite defective. The most used forms are the infinitive and past participle. The form "left" might not be used.
West Frisian
Noun
leaven
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Vulgar Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɛvən
- Rhymes:English/ɛvən/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- en:Cooking
- German terms derived from English
- German terms suffixed with -en
- German lemmas
- German verbs
- German slang
- de:Gaming
- German terms with rare senses
- West Frisian non-lemma forms
- West Frisian noun forms