Standard Lemma guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
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adj
Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a lion; lionlike.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: lionesque, lionly
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a lion; lionlike.
Of a facies (“a person's facial features”): resembling those of a lion as a result of some disease, especially a form of leprosy which causes leontiasis (“a medical condition characterized by an overgrowth of the cranial and facial bones”); also, of leprosy: causing a lionlike facies.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: medicine, pathology, sciences
Synonyms: lionesque, lionly
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Of or pertaining to one of the popes named Leo; specifically (in Leonine City), to Pope Leo IV (r. 847–855) who ordered the building of a wall around Vatican Hill to protect what is now Vatican City, or (in Leonine Prayers) to Pope Leo XIV (r. 2025–present).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Being or relating to a kind of medieval Latin verse, generally alternative hexameter and pentameter, with rhyming at the middle and end of a line (that is, internal rhyme); also (by extension), of or relating to modern verse having internal rhyme.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
Topics: communications, journalism, literature, media, poetry, publishing, writing
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Alternative letter-case form of leonine (“of or pertaining to one of the popes named Leo; being or relating to a kind of medieval Latin verse, generally alternative hexameter and pentameter, with rhyming at the middle and end of a line (that is, internal rhyme)”).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: alt-of, not-comparable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Synonym of Leonine verse (“a kind of medieval Latin verse, generally alternative hexameter and pentameter, with rhyming at the middle and end of a line (that is, internal rhyme)”).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: in-plural
Topics: communications, journalism, literature, media, poetry, publishing, writing
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: Leonine verse
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A 13th-century coin minted in Europe and used in England as a debased form of the sterling silver penny; it was outlawed under Edward I (reigned 1272–1307).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: historical
Topics: hobbies, lifestyle, numismatics
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Alternative letter-case form of leonine (“a 13th-century coin minted in Europe and used in England as a debased form of the sterling silver penny”).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: alt-of
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adjective
of or characteristic of or resembling a lion
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
From Late Middle English leonin, leonine (“characteristic of a lion, lionlike”), from Old French leonin, and from its etymon Latin leōnīnus (“of or pertaining to a lion”), from leō (“lion”) (from Ancient Greek λέων (léōn, “lion”); further etymology uncertain) + -īnus (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’).
The adjective is derived from Late Middle English leonin, leonine (“of or pertaining to a person named Leo; specifically Pope Leo IV”), from Latin leōnīnus, from Leo (“man’s name”) (from leo (“lion”): see etymology 1) + -īnus (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’). Etymology 2, adjective sense 2 (“being or relating to a kind of verse with internal rhyme”) is said to refer to a (possibly apocryphal) medieval monk named Leo or Leonius who composed verse with this characteristic; his identity is uncertain, but the composer Léonin (also known as Leo, Leoninus, or Leonius; flourished 1135–1201) has been suggested. Alternatively, the word may refer to Pope Leo II (c. 611–683): see the c. 1760–1761 quotation. The noun is derived from the adjective.
Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin leōnīna + English -ine (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’). Leōnīna is a feminine singular form of Latin leōnīnus (see etymology 1), and may refer to the use of a lion motif on the coin: see the 1787 quotation.
Across languages
25 source translations are retained for this English entry.
