levant
See also: Levant
English edit
Etymology 1 edit
Transferral use of Levant, from French levant. Compare French faire voile en Levant (“to sail eastward”), literally: set the sail with the Levant, an easterly wind that blows in the Mediterranean Sea.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
levant (plural levants)
- A disappearing or absconding after losing a bet.
Verb edit
levant (third-person singular simple present levants, present participle levanting, simple past and past participle levanted)
- To abscond or run away, especially to avoid paying money or debts.
- 1885, Sir Richard Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Night 16:
- In a mighty little time their husbands played them false and, taking whatever they could lay hands upon, levanted and left them in the lurch.
- 1922 February, James Joyce, Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:
- He died of a Tuesday. Got the run. Levanted with the cash of a few ads.
Translations edit
to abscond or run away
Etymology 2 edit
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
levant (not comparable)
- (heraldry) Rising, of an animal.
- 1932, Notes & Queries for Somerset and Dorset:
- Crest, a stag regardant levant argent.
- 1977, Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and Natural History, Proceedings:
- [...] crest a raven levant sable issant out of a […]
- 1980, Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History, Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History:
- [...] neck grene acornes proper wounded on his left sholder and at her feet there is a fawcon issant levant argent out of a crowne or.
- (law) Rising or having risen from rest; said of cattle.
- (poetic) Eastern.
- Synonyms: oriental, eastern
- Antonyms: occidental, western, ponent
- 1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
- Forth rush the levant and the ponent winds.
Derived terms edit
Anagrams edit
French edit
Etymology edit
Participle adjective of lever (“to raise”). Corresponds to Latin levantem (“raising”), in reference to the rising of the sun; compare Italian levante.
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
levant (feminine levante, masculine plural levants, feminine plural levantes)
Noun edit
levant m (uncountable)
Participle edit
levant
Derived terms edit
Further reading edit
- “levant”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams edit
Latin edit
Verb edit
levant