leveret

English

Etymology

From Middle English leveret, leverette, from Anglo-Norman leveret, levrat, diminutive of levre, from Latin lepore, lepus (“hare”), of non-Indo-European origin.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈlɛvəɹɪt/, /ˈlɛvɹɪt/
Audio (southern England) (file)

Noun

leveret (plural leverets)

A young hare less than one year old.
Synonym: hareling
- 1623, John Webster, The Duchess of Malfi, Act V, Scene 5,
  […] Shall I die like a leveret,
  Without any resistance?—Help, help, help!
  I am slain!
- 1686, Edmund Waller, “Of a Tree cut in Paper” in Poems, &c. written upon several occasions, and to several persons by Edmond Waller, London: H. Herringman,
  Fair Hand that can on Virgin-paper write,
  Yet from the stain of Ink preserve it white,
  Whose travel o’er that Silver Field does show,
  Like track of Leveretts in morning Snow;
- 1720, Alexander Pope (translator), The Iliad of Homer, Book 10,
  As when two skilful hounds the leveret wind;
  Or chase through woods obscure the trembling hind;
  Now lost, now seen, they intercept his way,
  And from the herd still turn the flying prey:
  So fast, and with such fears, the Trojan flew;
  So close, so constant, the bold Greeks pursue.
- 1897, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, “chapter 16”, in The Invisible Man: A Grotesque Romance, New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, OCLC 904345282:
  They heard Marvel squeal like a caught leveret, and forthwith they were clambering over the bar to his rescue.

Translations

a young hare