leman

See also lemán, Leman, and Léman

English

Alternative forms

• leaman
• lemman (13th-17th centuries)
• lemon (15th-16th centuries)

Etymology

From Middle English lemman, from Middle English leofman, from Old English lēof +‎ mann, equivalent to lief +‎ man ("beloved person").

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈlɛmən/, /ˈliːmən/
• Rhymes: -ɛmən

Noun

leman (plural lemans)

1. (archaic) One beloved; a lover, a sweetheart of either sex (especially a secret lover, gallant, or mistress).
   • 1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book VI:

     He wente that his lemman had layne in that bed, and so he leyde hym adowne by Sir Launcelot and toke hym in his armys and began to kysse hym.

   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, I.i:

     Faire Venus seemde vnto his bed to bring / Her, whom he waking euermore did weene, / To be the chastest flowre, that ay did spring / On earthly braunch, the daughter of a king, / Now a loose Leman to vile seruice bound [...].

   • 1819, Walter Scott, Ivanhoe:

     The prisoner I speak of is better booty — a jolly monk riding to visit his leman, an I may judge by his horse-gear and wearing apparel.

2. (often negative) A paramour.
   • 1932, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Sunset Song:

     And he sent the news to William the Lyon, sitting drinking the wine and fondling his bonny lemans in Edinburgh Town, and William made him the Knight of Kinraddie […].