leonine
/ˈliəˌnaɪn/
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.80 in modern English
Meaning
adj
Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a lion; lionlike.
adj
Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a lion; lionlike.
adj
Of or pertaining to one of the popes named Leo; specifically (in Leonine City), to Pope Leo IV (r. 847–855) who ordered the building of a wall around Vatican Hill to protect what is now Vatican City, or (in Leonine Prayers) to Pope Leo XIV (r. 2025–present).
adj
Being or relating to a kind of medieval Latin verse, generally alternative hexameter and pentameter, with rhyming at the middle and end of a line (that is, internal rhyme); also (by extension), of or relating to modern verse having internal rhyme.
noun
Synonym of Leonine verse (“a kind of medieval Latin verse, generally alternative hexameter and pentameter, with rhyming at the middle and end of a line (that is, internal rhyme)”).
noun
A 13th-century coin minted in Europe and used in England as a debased form of the sterling silver penny; it was outlawed under Edward I (reigned 1272–1307).
adj
Alternative letter-case form of leonine (“of or pertaining to one of the popes named Leo; being or relating to a kind of medieval Latin verse, generally alternative hexameter and pentameter, with rhyming at the middle and end of a line (that is, internal rhyme)”).
Example Sentences
- "He was of a leonine-coloured haire, sanguinocholerique, middle sized, strong."
- "Ti′ger. […] A fierce beaſt of the leonine kind."
- "Redoubted King, of courage leonine, / I mark thee, Richard!"
- "Great sensibility lay in him [Edward Sterling], too; a real sympathy, and affectionate pity and softness, which he had an over-tendency to express even by tears,—a singular sight in so leonine a man."
- "He [Walter Savage Landor] was a man of somewhat leonine aspect as regards the general appearance and expression of the head and face, which accorded well with the large and massive build of the figure, and to which a superbly curling white beard added not only picturesqueness, but a certain nobility."
- "He [John B. Cox] is the birdwatching equivalent of a great hunter, striding along the edge of the swamp with an almost leonine confidence, his large hands gripping his binoculars like a gunslinger wields a Colt 45."
Etymology
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: leonin,leonine, leonin, leōnīnus, λέων
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈliəˌnaɪn/
- British English: /ˈliːənaɪn/