leaven
Americannoun
-
a substance, as yeast or baking powder, that causes fermentation and expansion of dough or batter.
-
fermented dough reserved for producing fermentation in a new batch of dough.
-
an element that produces an altering or transforming influence.
verb (used with object)
-
leavens,
present (3rd person singular)
-
leavened,
past participle, past
-
leavening
present participle
-
to add leaven to (dough or batter) and cause to rise.
-
to permeate with an altering or transforming element.
noun
-
any substance that produces fermentation in dough or batter, such as yeast, and causes it to rise
-
a piece of such a substance kept to ferment a new batch of dough
-
an agency or influence that produces a gradual change
verb
-
to cause fermentation in (dough or batter)
-
to pervade, causing a gradual change, esp with some moderating or enlivening influence
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
leavensimple
-
leavenssimple
-
have leavenedperfect
-
has leavenedperfect
-
am leaveningprogressive
-
are leaveningprogressive
-
is leaveningprogressive
-
have been leaveningperfect progressive
-
has been leaveningperfect progressive
Past
-
leavenedsimple
-
had leavenedperfect
-
was leaveningprogressive
-
were leaveningprogressive
-
had been leaveningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of leaven
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English levain, levein, leven, from Anglo-French levein, levain, Old French levain, from Vulgar Latin levāmen (unrecorded) “means of raising or lifting,” from Latin levāmen “alleviation, mitigation, relief,” derivative of levā(re) “to raise, lift up; relieve, reduce” + -men noun suffix
Explanation
Leaven, as a noun, is that which causes transformation. It’s the source of yeast that makes your bread rise, it’s the risen bread, and it’s anything that changes the nature of something else. Coming through Old French from the Latin verb levare, which means “to raise,” leaven changes everything. It makes dough go from flat to loaf, and it’s also the term to describe the risen dough before it’s baked. And leaven can be anything that causes transformation — "Winning the lottery will be the leaven that allows you to travel the world." Additionally it’s a verb: "When you bake bread, you leaven the dough to make it rise."
Vocabulary lists containing leaven
Stairway To Leaven: Baking Vocabulary
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
April Vocabulary Words
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
The Devil's Arithmetic
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
If Ms. Gage wanted some celebratory leaven, she could have visited Dayton, Ohio’s many sites devoted to the Wright Brothers and their world-changing invention.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 1, 2026
That’s in keeping with a director who likes to leaven something profound with something ordinary.
From Seattle Times ● May 28, 2024
There was gloss and sass to leaven the tough stuff.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 27, 2024
I also used to leaven the proceedings with humor.
From Salon ● Feb. 2, 2024
For one thing, any hopes my father may have had that to meet the General in person would arouse a sense of respect or sympathy to leaven his feelings against him proved without foundation.
From "The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro
A doleful tale, but Mr. Ogilvy also leavens it with humor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
As Vince, Bateman — who also directed the first two episodes, efficiently, with “Ozark” co-star Laura Linney helming the second two — leavens an exasperating character with his innate likability.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2025
Whether the songs are presented in their orchestral splendor or as frenetic electronica, each needle drop leavens the natural comedy of John’s frantic awkwardness or captures his chronic sorrow.
From Salon ● Mar. 26, 2025
The yeast is tolerant of this acidic environment, and it ferments carbohydrates other than maltose to produce the carbon dioxide that leavens the bread.
From Scientific American ● Nov. 1, 2023
I believe because faith is the great want of the age, and it shall remove mountains; I believe because belief is like the pinch of yeast which, being dropped into the dough, leavens the whole.
From A Second Coming by Richard Marsh
To begin with, there’s its ingratiating style, leisurely but leavened with wit and chutzpah, as well as Fiedler’s pervasive disdain for the sentimental and ersatz.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
Closely cropped and dramatically lighted, the tight composition gives the familiar scene a new immediacy and intimacy, leavened by the playful interaction of the Christ child and St. John.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 24, 2026
The series largely belongs to them — both actors are terrific, Shannon imbuing Garfield with a gravity leavened with kindness and humor, Macfadyen’s Guiteau, optimistically dedicated to his delusions yet always about to pop.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2025
What you might recognize as a modern-style fruitcake – a moist, leavened dessert studded with fruits and nuts – was probably first baked in the early Middle Ages in Europe.
From Salon ● Dec. 17, 2024
All the same, a little more fear leavened his exhilaration as he returned his attention to the sword reposing upon the bottom of the frozen pool.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
The natural leavening gives them a lighter, crispier crust and an airy, mildly tangy crumb.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 9, 2026
They are also what make it rise in the absence of other leavening agents.
From Salon ● Apr. 30, 2024
A corrosive rage courses through this 163-minute odyssey that’s matched by a leavening absurdism, Jude aghast at the comical stupidity of our inauthentic, greed-driven world.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 20, 2024
So, they have chosen the traditional path, using public filings to make their case — leavening the dense legal passages with explanations aimed at being more accessible to the public, officials said.
From New York Times ● Aug. 31, 2022
From morning to night, he displayed cool and reasoned leadership, with his humor leavening even the most difficult crisis.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
