lenis

See also: Lenis

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin lēnis (“soft, smooth”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: lē'nəs, lā'nəs, lĕ'nəs, IPA^(key): /ˈliːnɪs/, /ˈleɪnɪs/, /ˈlɛnɪs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːnɪs

Adjective

lenis (not comparable)

1. (phonetics, of a consonant) Relatively weakly articulated, hence unaspirated and possibly voiced; especially as compared to the others of a group of homorganic consonants.

   Synonym: lax

   Antonym: fortis

   Unaspirated [p] is lenis in Danish, the corresponding fortis consonant being [pʰ]. The same sound is fortis in French, the corresponding lenis consonant being [b].

   • 2004, Stephan Gramley, Michael Pätzold, A Survey of Modern English, Routledge, →ISBN, page 80:

     All vowels, whether short or complex, are relatively shorter when followed by a fortis consonant and relatively longer when followed by a lenis one or, for those where this is possible, when no consonant follows (in free or unchecked syllables).

Derived terms

• lenition

Translations

weakly articulated

• Finnish: heikko (fi), lenis (fi)
• Irish: séimh

Noun

lenis (plural lenes)

1. (phonetics) A lenis consonant.

Anagrams

• LINEs, Niles, elsin, liens, lines, lisne

Latin

Etymology 1

From Proto-Italic *lēnis (“soft, mild”), from Proto-Indo-European *leh₁- (“lazy, slow; soft”).

Cognate to Proto-Slavic *lěnь (“laziness”) and to Lithuanian lė́nas (“slow, calm”). Compare also lentus, of similar sound and meaning but different origin.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈɫeː.nɪs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈlɛː.nis]

Adjective

lēnis (neuter lēne, comparative lēnior, superlative lēnissimus, adverb lēne or lēniter); third-declension two-termination adjective

1. soft, smooth, gentle, moderate, mild, calm

   Synonyms: lentus, mītis, placidus, mollis

2. gradual

Declension

Third-declension two-termination adjective.

	singular			plural
	masc./fem.	neuter		masc./fem.	neuter
nominative	lēnis	lēne		lēnēs	lēnia
genitive	lēnis			lēnium
dative	lēnī			lēnibus
accusative	lēnem	lēne		lēnīs lēnēs	lēnia
ablative	lēnī			lēnibus
vocative	lēnis	lēne		lēnēs	lēnia

Derived terms

• spīritus lēnis

Related terms

• lēne
• lēnīmen
• lēnīmentum
• lēniō
• lēnitās
• lēniter
• lēnitūdō

Descendants

• English: lenis, lenient
• Galician: lene, ao len
• Italian: lene
• Occitan: len
• Romanian: lin
• Spanish: lene
• Portuguese: lene

Etymology 2

Inflected form of lēna (“madame, procuress”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈɫeː.niːs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈlɛː.nis]

Noun

lēnīs

1. dative/ablative plural of lēna

References

• “lenis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “lenis”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "lenis", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “lenis”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • (ambiguous) a gentle, subdued voice: vox lenis, suppressa, summissa