leman

¹ American  

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

noun

Archaic.

1. a sweetheart; lover; beloved.

2. a mistress.

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Leman ² American  

[lee-muhn] / ˈli mən /

noun

1. Lake. Lake of Geneva.

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leman ¹ British  

/ ˈliː-, ˈlɛmən /

noun

1. a beloved; sweetheart

2. a lover or mistress

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Léman ² British  

/ lemɑ̃ /

noun

1. the French name for (Lake) Geneva

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Etymology

Origin of leman

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

Example Sentences

Gae back, gae back, ye fause ill wife, To the grave wherein ye lie, It never was seen that a dead leman Kept lover's company!

From Old Friends, Epistolary Parody by Lang, Andrew

She is no leman of Richard of Woodville--Sir Richard, by the mass! for I have heard to-day he has been made a knight.

From Agincourt The Works of G. P. R. James, Volume XX by James, G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford)

"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

And drink unto the leman mine; And a merry heart lives long-a.

From King Henry IV, Part 2 by Shakespeare, William

Love is a burr upon the floor, Love is a thief behind the door; Who loves leman for her breath May quench his fire and cry for death!

From The Mountainy Singer by MacCathmhaoil, Seosamh