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

It was a maid lay sick of love,All for a leman fair;And it was three of her bower-maidensThat came to comfort her.

From Ballads, Lyrics, and Poems of Old France by Lang, Andrew

"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

Warn not my love, till o'er the mead The morning sun has broke: Too short, alas! the time, since here I tarried with my leman dear, In love and converse sweet.'

From Women of the Teutonic Nations Woman: In all ages and in all countries Vol. 8 (of 10) by Schoenfeld, Hermann

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

A common plot is the story of the faithful leman, whose lord brings home "a braw new bride," and who recovers his affection at the eleventh hour.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 2 "Baconthorpe" to "Bankruptcy" by Various