Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A sweetheart; a lover.
  • noun A mistress.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One who is dear; a person beloved.
  • noun A sweetheart of either sex; a gallant or a mistress: often in a bad sense; a paramour.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Archaic A sweetheart, of either sex; a gallant, or a mistress; -- usually in a bad sense.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun archaic One beloved; a lover, a sweetheart of either sex (especially a secret lover, gallant, or mistress).
  • noun A paramour.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English leofman, lemman : leof, dear (from Old English lēof; see leubh- in Indo-European roots) + man, man; see man.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English lemman, from Middle English leofman, from Old English lēof +‎ mann, equivalent to lief +‎ man ("beloved person").

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word leman.

Examples

  • For the truth of the history is, that Master Elisabat, of whom the madman spoke, was very prudent, and a man of a sound judgment, and served the queen as her tutor and physician; but to think that she was his leman is a madness worthy the severest punishment; and to the end thou mayst see that Cardenio knew not what he said, thou must understand that when he spoke it he then was wholly beside himself.

    The Third Book. XI. Which Treats of the Strange Adventures That Happened to the Knight of the Mancha in Sierra Morena; and of the Penance He Did There, in Imitation of Beltenebros 1909

  • In fact, the female next to whom she had sat on the previous day had refused to share a seat with "a gen'leman's bit o 'fluff."

    Ungrateful Governess Balogh, Mary 1988

  • Tom! "he called," yo 'take the gen'leman's horse to the stable, rub him down with a wisp, an' give him some hay.

    The Boy With the U.S. Census Francis Rolt-Wheeler 1918

  • Nothing like it in the county -- a gen'leman's site, and you don't get that offered you every day.

    Complete Project Gutenberg John Galsworthy Works John Galsworthy 1900

  • Grandfer's sons would like the gen'leman's reasons.

    A Poor Man's House Stephen Sydney Reynolds 1900

  • Nothing like it in the county -- a gen'leman's site, and you don't get that offered you every day.

    Complete Plays of John Galsworthy John Galsworthy 1900

  • Nothing like it in the county -- a gen'leman's site, and you don't get that offered you every day.

    The Skin Game John Galsworthy 1900

  • If, however, he has reason to believe that 'a nice quiet gen'leman 'is really hard-up, then he is very sorry, and will reduce the rate of hire by so much as half.

    A Poor Man's House Stephen Sydney Reynolds 1900

  • Usually, however, not wishing to go into the matter so thoroughly -- having come in contact with outsiders chiefly when they have been on holiday and least economical -- he considers a tip merely as the outflowing of a gen'leman's abundance.

    A Poor Man's House Stephen Sydney Reynolds 1900

  • When a gen'leman'sh invited b 'th' lady 'f th' house t 'partake' f refreshmen '----

    The 'Mind the Paint' Girl A Comedy in Four Acts Arthur Wing Pinero 1894

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • a sweetheart or lover; Middle English origin

    February 28, 2009

  • You say that she apples your eye,

    Your peach, your adored sweetie pie,

    But “leman,” though apt

    Will get your face slapped -

    Too bitter a fruit to apply.

    February 14, 2019