león

See also: leon, Leon, leòn, León, and Léon

Galician

Alternative forms

• leom, leão (reintegrationist)

Etymology

From Latin leō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /leˈɔŋ/ [leˈɔŋ]
  • Rhymes: -ɔŋ
• IPA^(key): /ˈljɔŋ/ [ˈljɔŋ]
  • Rhymes: -ɔŋ
• Hyphenation: le‧ón

Noun

león m (plural leóns)

1. lion

Further reading

• “león”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025

Old Norse

Alternative forms

• leó

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin leō (“lion”).

Noun

león m (genitive leóns, plural leónir)

1. lion

Declension

Declension of león (strong i-stem, s-genitive)

masculine	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	león	leóninn	leónir	leónirnir
accusative	león	leóninn	leóni	leónina
dative	león	leóninum	leónum	leónunum
genitive	leóns	leónsins	leóna	leónanna

Descendants

• Icelandic: ljón
• Faroese: ljón
• Elfdalian: läjon
• Old Swedish: leon, leion, leyan
  • Swedish: lejon
    • → Finnish: leijona
    • → Northern Sami: ledjon

Spanish

león [1]

león [2]

león [3]

Etymology

From Latin leōnem (compare Catalan lleó, French lion, Galician león, Italian leone, Portuguese leão, Romanian leu), from Ancient Greek λέων (léōn), of Semitic origin. Doublet of leu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /leˈon/ [leˈõn]

  • Audio (Spain):

    (file)

  • Rhymes: -on
• IPA^(key): /ˈljon/ [ˈljõn]
  • Rhymes: -on
• Syllabification: le‧ón

Noun

león m (plural leones, feminine leona, feminine plural leonas)

1. lion
2. antlion

   Synonym: hormiga león

3. (heraldry) lion
4. (figurative) a brave person
5. (Central America, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela) cougar, puma, mountain lion

   Synonyms: león de montaña, pantera, puma

6. (soccer) a person connected with Athletic Bilbao, a Spanish football team from the city of Bilbao

Hyponyms

• León de Nemea

Derived terms

• bocado del león
• cola de león f
• diente de león m
• hormiga león f
• la parte del león
• lago de leones m
• león americano
• león de montaña m
• león de proa m
• león marino m
• león miquero m
• león pardo m
• león real m
• leona f
• leoncillo m
• pata de león
• pez león
• pie de león m

Descendants

• → Bikol Central: leon, leyon
• → Guaraní: leõ
• → Kapampangan: leon
• → Papiamentu: leon
• → Quechua: liyun

Further reading

• “león”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Anagrams

• leño