leman

¹ American  

[lem-uhn, lee-muhn] / ˈlɛm ən, ˈli mən /

noun

Archaic.

1. a sweetheart; lover; beloved.

2. a mistress.

---

Leman ² American  

[lee-muhn] / ˈli mən /

noun

1. Lake. Lake of Geneva.

---

leman ¹ British  

/ ˈliː-, ˈlɛmən /

noun

1. a beloved; sweetheart

2. a lover or mistress

---

Léman ² British  

/ lemɑ̃ /

noun

1. the French name for (Lake) Geneva

---

Etymology

Origin of leman

1175–1225; Middle English lemman, earlier leofman. See lief, man

Example Sentences

"Hold," said Meliagrance; "here is my glove, in proof that she is traitress to the king, and that one of these wounded knights is her leman."

From Historic Tales, Vol 14 (of 15) The Romance of Reality by Morris, Charles

"I lo'e Brown Adam weel," she says; "I wot sae does he me: "I wad na be your light leman "For mair than ye could gie."

From Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, Volume 2 Consisting of Historical and Romantic Ballads, Collected in The Southern Counties of Scotland; with a Few of Modern Date, Founded Upon Local Tradition by Scott, Walter, Sir

For long did the king gaze upon his dead leman; then, he softly touched with his fingers her brow, already losing the warmth of life, and with slow steps withdrew from the chamber.

From Sulamith: A Romance of Antiquity by Kuprin, A. I. (Aleksandr Ivanovich)

A faithless wife first brought the strangers to our shore here, MacMurrough's wife and her leman, O'Rourke, prince of Breffni.

From Ulysses by Joyce, James

I the one, Who led the Dardan leman on his raid, To storm the chamber of the Spartan maid?

From The Æneid of Virgil Translated into English Verse by E. Fairfax Taylor by Taylor, Edward Fairfax