/ˈlɛvɪn/
OriginFrom Middle English levene. Spellings in Middle English and Early Modern English include leven, levin, levyn, leiven, and leyven. The earlier etymology is less clear. It is thought to be related to Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌿𐌷𐌼𐌿𐌽𐌹 (lauhmuni) (which see for some more), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewk- (“bright, to shine”). Possibly a regular reflex, possibly North Germanic loan, or possibly from a lost substrate.
- archaic, countable, poetic, uncountableLightning; a bolt of lightning; also, a bright flame or light.
“His soul was like the night around us now, dark, and sultry, and silent, but lighted up by the red levin of wrath and torn by the bellowings of thunder-passion.”
“And forth rith al so leuin fares.”
“[N]either blood in face nor life in hart / It left, but both did quite drye vp, and blaſt; / As percing leuin, which the inner part / Of euery thing conſumes, and calcineth by art.”
- archaic, intransitive, poeticTo strike, as lightning.
“Tremendous bursts of electric discharge levined through the clouds or lit up their under surfaces and all the rain-soaked earth, […]”
- countable, uncountableA surname from Hebrew.
“According to the most recent available disclosures, UDP has spent more than $910,000 backing Stevens. AIPAC, a hawkish pro-Israel group that supports both Democrats and Republicans, endorsed Stevens a”
- countable, uncountableA male given name.
- countable, uncountableA town in Manawatū-Whanganui, New Zealand. Named after William Levin.
“The latter's loss of time between Manakau and Levin was due to the mishap of dropping the tablet at Ohau, which entailed an out-of-course stop of 3 min. to recover it.”
Formslevins(plural) · levins(present, singular, third-person) · levining(participle, present) · levined(participle, past) · levined(past) · Levins(plural) · Leven(alternative) · Levene(alternative) · Lewin(alternative)