leaven

English

WOTD – 22 November 2009

Etymology

From Middle English levayn, borrowed from Old French levain, from Vulgar Latin *levāmen, a noun based on Latin levō (“raise”).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈlɛv.ən/, [ˈlɛvn̩]

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛvən

Noun

leaven (countable and uncountable, plural leavens)

1. Any agent used to make dough rise or to have a similar effect on baked goods.
2. (figurative) Anything that induces change, especially a corrupting or vitiating change.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Mark 8:15:

     Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.

   • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXXVI, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 299:

     On the far side was reflected a single red and meteoric cloud, which had treasured one last crimson ray from the sunset, or perhaps nursed within it the fiery leaven.

   • 1926, T.E. Lawrence, Seven Pillars of Wisdom, New York: Anchor, published 1991, page 213:

     The leaven of insincerity worked through all the fibres of his being.

Synonyms

• (any agent used to make dough rise): leavening agent, raising agent

Hypernyms

• (any agent used to make dough rise): agent, substance

Hyponyms

• (any agent used to make dough rise): baking powder, yeast

Derived terms

• leavenless
• natural leaven

Translations

any agent used to make dough rise

• Arabic: خَمِيرَة f (ḵamīra)
• Armenian: թթխմոր (hy) (tʻtʻxmor)
• Azerbaijani: maya (az)
• Bulgarian: набухвател m (nabuhvatel)
• Catalan: llevat (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 酵母 (zh) (jiàomǔ), 麵肥／面肥 (zh) (miànféi)

• Classical Nahuatl: xocotextli
• Cornish: gwel m
• Dutch: rijsmiddel (nl) n
• Esperanto: fermentilo
• Finnish: nostatusaine (fi)
• French: levain (fr) m, ferment (fr) m
• Friulian: levan m
• Galician: lévedo (gl) m, fermento (gl) m, isco m
• German: Treibmittel n, Triebmittel n, Ferment (de) n
• Gothic: 𐌱𐌴𐌹𐍃𐍄 n (beist)
• Greek:

  Ancient: ζύμη f (zúmē)

• Hebrew: שאור (he) (s'or)
• Hungarian: kovász (hu), élesztő (hu)
• Ido: hefo (io)
• Irish: gabháil m
• Italian: lievito (it)
• Japanese: パン種 (pan-dane), 膨張剤 (ぼうちょうざい, bōchōzai)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: ھەوێن (hewên)

  Northern Kurdish: havên (ku)

• Latvian: rauga f
• Lithuanian: raugas m
• Malay: bahan penaik
• Manx: jastee m, jiastyn f, soorid m
• Maori: rēwena
• Middle English: sour dogh, levayn
• Norwegian: hevingsmiddel n
• Occitan: levam (oc) m
• Old Church Slavonic: квасъ m (kvasŭ)
• Ottoman Turkish: مایه (maya)
• Persian: مایه (fa) (mâye)
• Polish: zaczyn m
• Portuguese: fermento (pt) m, levedura (pt) f
• Romanian: plămădeală (ro) f, maia (ro) f, covoseală f, plămadă (ro) f
• Romansch: levon m, levànt m, lavamaint m, tschadamaint m, alvo, alvamaint m
• Russian: заква́ска (ru) f (zakváska), разрыхли́тель (ru) m (razryxlítelʹ) (те́ста)
• Sicilian: criscenti (scn)
• Spanish: levadura (es) f, polvos de hornear m pl
• Swahili: chachu (sw) class 9, hamira (sw)
• Tagalog: lebadura
• Turkish: maya (tr)
• Venetian: levà m
• Walloon: lewin (wa) m
• Welsh: surdoes m, eples m, lefain m

Verb

leaven (third-person singular simple present leavens, present participle leavening, simple past and past participle leavened)

1. (transitive) To add a leavening agent.
2. (transitive) To cause to rise by fermentation.
3. (transitive, figuratively) To temper an action or decision.
   • c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:

     Duke. No more euasion:
     We haue with a leauen'd, and prepared choice
     Proceeded to you; therefore take your honors:[...]

   • 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page vii:

     With fresh material, taxonomic conclusions are leavened by recognition that the material examined reflects the site it occupied; a herbarium packet gives one only a small fraction of the data desirable for sound conclusions. Herbarium material does not, indeed, allow one to extrapolate safely: what you see is what you get […]

4. (transitive, figuratively) To imbue; to infect; to vitiate.
   • 1649, John Milton, Eikonoklastes‎^[1], London, published 1756, page 30:

     With these and the like deceivable doctrines, he levens also his prayer.

   • 1716, Thomas Browne, edited by Samuel Johnson, Christian Morals‎^[2], 2nd edition, London: J. Payne, published 1756, Part I, p. 7:

     […] pursue virtue virtuously: leven not good actions, nor render virtues disputable. Stain not fair acts with foul intentions […]

5. To rise or become larger. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Alternative forms

• leven (obsolete)

Derived terms

• leavened
• leavening
• unleavened

Translations

to add leavening

• Finnish: nostattaa (fi)
• Ido: hefizar
• Italian: lievitare (it)
• Spanish: leudar (es)

to cause to rise by fermentation

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 膨鬆／膨松 (zh) (péngsōng)

• Finnish: nostattaa (fi), kohottaa (fi)
• French: faire lever, faire fermenter
• Galician: levedar (gl)
• Hawaiian: hū
• Hungarian: keleszt (hu), megkeleszt, erjeszt (hu)
• Italian: lievitare (it)
• Maori: rēwena
• Norwegian: heve (no)
• Persian: وراوردن (fa) (varâvardan)
• Spanish: leudar (es)
• Tahitian: hōpue

See also

• yeast

German

Etymology

From English leave +‎ -en.

Verb

leaven (third-person singular present leavt, past tense left, past participle geleaved, auxiliary haben or sein)

1. (slang, rare) to leave

   Synonym: quitten

Conjugation

As an anglicism, the conjugation appears to be quite defective. The most used forms are the infinitive and past participle. The form "left" might not be used.

West Frisian

Noun

leaven

1. plural of leaf