lenis
See also: Lenis
English
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin lēnis (“soft, smooth”).
Pronunciation
- enPR: lē'nəs, lā'nəs, IPA(key): /ˈliːnɪs/, /ˈlɛnɪs/
- Rhymes: -iːnɪs
Adjective
lenis (not comparable)
- (phonetics) Weakly articulated (of a consonant), hence voiced; especially as compared to the others of a group of homorganic consonants.
- Synonym: lax
- Antonym: fortis
- 2004, Stephan Gramley; Michael Pätzold, A Survey of Modern English, Routledge, →ISBN, page 80:
- All vowels, whether short or complex, are relatively shorter when followed by a fortis consonant and relatively longer when followed by a lenis one or, for those where this is possible, when no consonant follows (in free or unchecked syllables).
Derived terms
- lenition
Noun
lenis (plural lenes)
- (phonetics) A lenis consonant.
Anagrams
- LINEs, Niles, elsin, liens, lines, lisne
Latin
Etymology 1
From Proto-Italic *lēnis, from Proto-Indo-European *leh₁-.
Compare lentus. Cognate to Old Church Slavonic лѣнъ (lěnŭ, “lazy”), whence Russian ленивый (lenivyj, “lazy”), and to Lithuanian lė́nas (“slow, calm”).[1]
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈleː.nis/, [ˈɫ̪eːnɪs̠]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈle.nis/, [ˈlɛːnis]
Audio (Classical) (file)
Adjective
lēnis (neuter lēne, comparative lēnior, superlative lēnissimus, adverb lēne or lēniter); third-declension two-termination adjective
- soft, smooth, gentle, moderate, mild, calm
- Synonyms: lentus, mītis, placidus, mollis
- gradual
Declension
Third-declension two-termination adjective.
Number | Singular | Plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Case / Gender | Masc./Fem. | Neuter | Masc./Fem. | Neuter | |
Nominative | lēnis | lēne | lēnēs | lēnia | |
Genitive | lēnis | lēnium | |||
Dative | lēnī | lēnibus | |||
Accusative | lēnem | lēne | lēnēs lēnīs | lēnia | |
Ablative | lēnī | lēnibus | |||
Vocative | lēnis | lēne | lēnēs | lēnia |
Derived terms
- spīritus lēnis
Related terms
- lēne
- lēnīmen
- lēnīmentum
- lēniō
- lēnitās
- lēniter
- lēnitūdō
Descendants
- English: lenis, lenient
- Galician: lene, ao len
- Italian: lene
- Occitan: le
- Romanian: lin
- Spanish: lene
- Portuguese: lene
Etymology 2
Inflected form of lēna (“madame, procuress”).
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈleː.niːs/, [ˈɫ̪eːniːs̠]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈle.nis/, [ˈlɛːnis]
Noun
lēnīs
- dative/ablative plural of lēna
References
- “lenis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “lenis”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- lenis in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
- lenis in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
- Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
- (ambiguous) a gentle, subdued voice: vox lenis, suppressa, summissa
- (ambiguous) a gentle, subdued voice: vox lenis, suppressa, summissa
- “lene” in: Alberto Nocentini, Alessandro Parenti, “l'Etimologico — Vocabolario della lingua italiana”, Le Monnier, 2010, →ISBN