See also: Levis, Lévis, and Levi's

Esperanto

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Verb

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levis

  1. past of levi

Verb

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levis

  1. past of levar

Latin

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Etymology 1

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    From Proto-Italic *leɣʷis (with possible contamination from *breɣʷis), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁lengʰwih₂-, from *h₁léngʰus, from *h₁lengʷʰ- (lightweight). Cognates include Sanskrit लघु (laghú), Ancient Greek ἐλᾰφρός, ἐλᾰχῠ́ς (elăphrós, elăkhŭ́s) and Old English lēoht (English light).

    Pronunciation

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    Adjective

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    levis (neuter leve, comparative levior, superlative levissimus, adverb leviter); third-declension two-termination adjective

    1. (literally) light, not heavy
      Antonym: gravis
    2. (transferred sense)
      1. (usually poetic) easy to digest
      2. quick, swift, fleet, nimble, rapid
        Synonyms: agilis, vēlōx, pernīx, prōmptus, properus, facilis
        Antonym: lentus
      3. (usually poetic) slight, trifling, small
    3. (figuratively)
      1. (Classical Latin) light, trivial, trifling, unimportant, inconsiderable, slight, little, petty, easy, dispensable
      2. light, light-minded, capricious, fickle, inconstant, unreliable, false
        Synonym: mendāx
      3. (rare) mild, gentle, pleasant
        • 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 3.17–18:
          dum sedet, umbrōsae salicēs volucrēsque canōrae
          fēcērunt somnōs et leve murmur aquae
          While she sits, the shady willows, the songs of birds,
          and the gentle murmur of the water invite slumber.
      This entry needs quotations to illustrate usage. If you come across any interesting, durably archived quotes then please add them!
    Inflection
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    Third-declension two-termination adjective.

    singular plural
    masc./fem. neuter masc./fem. neuter
    nominative levis leve levēs levia
    genitive levis levium
    dative levī levibus
    accusative levem leve levēs
    levīs
    levia
    ablative levī levibus
    vocative levis leve levēs levia
    Derived terms
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    Descendants
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    • Balkan Romance:
      • Proto-Romanian: *lieu
        • Aromanian: lishor
        • Romanian: ușor
    • Italo-Romance:
    • North Italian:
    • Gallo-Romance:
    • Occitano-Romance:
    • Ibero-Romance:
      • Old Spanish: lieve, lief (apocopic variant)
        • Spanish: leve (possibly influenced by Latin)
      • Portuguese: leve

    Etymology 2

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    Uncertain. Possibly from Proto-Italic *lēiwis, from Proto-Indo-European *leh₁y-u- (smooth) and cognate to Ancient Greek λεῖος (leîos, smooth, plain, level, hairless, soft), Ancient Greek λίς (lís, smooth).[1] Or from Proto-Indo-European *h₂leyH- (to smear) and cognate to Latin līmus (mud, slime, muck), English slime, Ancient Greek λίμνη (límnē, marsh).

    Likely cognate to Latin oblīvīscor (forget).

    Alternative forms

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    Pronunciation

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    Adjective

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    lēvis (neuter lēve); third-declension two-termination adjective

    1. (literally, Classical Latin) smooth, not rough, smoothed, shining, rubbed
      Antonym: asper
      1. (poetic) slippery
      2. (poetic) without hair, beardless
        Synonym: imberbis
      3. (poetic) youthful, delicate, beautiful; finely dressed, spruce, effeminate
    2. (transferred sense, rare) rubbed smooth, ground down, softened, soft
    3. (Classical Latin, rare) (of speech) smooth, flowing
      This entry needs quotations to illustrate usage. If you come across any interesting, durably archived quotes then please add them!
    Inflection
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    Third-declension two-termination adjective.

    singular plural
    masc./fem. neuter masc./fem. neuter
    nominative lēvis lēve lēvēs lēvia
    genitive lēvis lēvium
    dative lēvī lēvibus
    accusative lēvem lēve lēvēs
    lēvīs
    lēvia
    ablative lēvī lēvibus
    vocative lēvis lēve lēvēs lēvia
    Derived terms
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    References

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    1. ^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “lēvis”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 336-337

    References

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    • levis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
    • levis”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
    • "levis", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
    • levis in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
    • Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
      • a man of character, with a strong personality: vir constans, gravis (opp. homo inconstans, levis)
      • light infantry: milites levis armaturae
      • (ambiguous) men of sound opinions: homines graves (opp. leves)