lion

See also: Lion, lìon, líon, and liôn

English
A male lion
The Royal Arms of England depict three golden lions.

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle English lyoun, lion, leon, borrowed from Old French lion, from Latin leō, (accusative: leōnem), from Ancient Greek λέων (léōn). Some argue that it is a borrowing from a Semitic language; however evidence is not clear and the relation with Proto-Semitic *labiʾ- is not solid. Semitic "labi/lavi" could either be a parent term to the Greek one or both could have evolved independently from a now lost root. Doublet of Leo, leu, lev, and Lyon.

Pronunciation
  • enPR: lī'ən, IPA(key): /ˈlaɪən/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -aɪən

Noun

lion (plural lions or lion, feminine lioness)

  1. A big cat, Panthera leo, native to Africa, India and formerly much of Europe.
    Tigers and lions share a common ancestor from a few million years ago.
    1. (in particular) A male lion, as opposed to a lioness.
  2. (by extension) Any of various extant and extinct big cats, especially the mountain lion.
  3. A Chinese foo dog.
  4. A person who shows attributes associated with the lion, such as strength, courage, or ferocity.
    • 2003, Peter Armstrong, Angus McBride, Stirling Bridge & Falkirk 1297–98: William Wallace's Rebellion:
      It was said of [Edward Plantaganet] that ‘he was a lion for pride and ferocity but a pard for inconstancy and changeableness, not keeping his word or promise but excusing himself with fair words’.
  5. A famous person regarded with interest and curiosity.
    • 1847 March 30, Herman Melville, Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas; […], London: John Murray, […], →OCLC:
      During this period, we were the lions of the neighbourhood; and, no doubt, strangers from the ​distant villages were taken to see the "Karhowrees" (white men), in the same way that countrymen, in a city, are gallanted to the Zoological Gardens.
    • 1844, John Wilson, Essay on the Genius, and Character of Burns:
      Such society was far more enjoyable than that of Edinburgh, for here he was not a lion, but a man.
    • 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 84:
      The men were delighted to go, and became the lions of the following season in Adelaide.
    • 1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, “ch. 4”, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC:
      Rose Waterford was a cynic. She looked upon life as an opportunity for writing novels and the public as her raw material. Now and then she invited members of it to her house if they showed an appreciation of her talent and entertained with proper lavishness. She held their weakness for lions in good-humoured contempt, but played to them her part of the distinguished woman of letters with decorum.
    • 1965 August, Mississippi Phil Ochs, “The Newport Fuzz Festival”, in The Realist‎, number 61, retrieved 2022-11-13, page 11:
      Heated comments were exchanged, and, before anyone could say, "festival," the two lions of the folk power structure were rolling in the dirt.
    • 2014, Camper Van Beethoven (lyrics and music), “City of Industry”, in El Camino Real, performed by Camper Van Beethoven:
      So bring a basket for the lions / Of City of Industry
  6. A light brown color that resembles the fur of a lion. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
    lion:  
  7. (historical) An old Scottish coin, with a lion on the obverse, worth 74 shillings.

Holonyms
  • (individual Panthera leo): pride

Coordinate terms

Derived terms
Terms etymologically related to lion

Descendants
  • → Hawaiian: liona
  • → Japanese: ライオン (raion)
  • → Maia: laion
  • → Tokelauan: leona

Translations

Adjective

lion (not comparable)

  1. Of the light brown color that resembles the fur of a lion.

See also

Anagrams

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French lion, a semi-learned borrowing from Latin leōnem, from Ancient Greek λέων (léōn).

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ljɔ̃/
  • audio(file)
  • (Quebec) IPA(key): /li.ɔ̃/
  • (Quebec)
    audio(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɔ̃
  • Homophones: lions, Lyon

Noun

lion m (plural lions, feminine lionne)

  1. (zoology) lion
    1. (specifically) male lion
  2. (figuratively) lion (brave person)
    se défendre comme un lion ― to defend oneself with great courage
  3. (heraldry) lion
  4. (figuratively, dated) lion (celebrity; famous person)
  5. (dated) a style of elegant young man that came after the dandy

Derived terms

Descendants
  • Haitian Creole: lyon
  • Mauritian Creole: lyon
  • Seychellois Creole: lyon

Further reading

Anagrams

Kabuverdianu

Etymology

From Spanish león.

Noun

lion

  1. lion

Krio

Etymology

From English leone.

Noun

lion

  1. leone (currency of Sierra Leone)

Middle English

Noun

lion

  1. Alternative form of lyoun

Old French

Alternative forms

Etymology

Semi-learned borrowing from Latin leō, leōnem, derived from Ancient Greek λέων (léōn).

Noun

lion oblique singular, m (oblique plural lions, nominative singular lions, nominative plural lion)

  1. lion (animal)

Descendants

Piedmontese

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /liˈuŋ/

Noun

lion m

  1. lion (animal)
    Synonym: leon
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