lien

See also: Lien, líen, liền, and liên

English

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Middle French lien, from Latin ligāmen (“a bond”), from ligō (“tie, bind”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈliːn/, /ˈliːən/
• Homophone: lean (IPA^(key): /liːn/)

Noun

lien (plural liens)

1. (obsolete) A tendon.
2. (law) A right to take possession of a debtor’s property as security until a debt or duty is discharged.
   • 1989, Greil Marcus, Lipstick Traces, Faber & Faber, published 2009:

     […] every youth movement presents itself as loan to the future, and tries to call in its lien in advance, but when there is no future all loans are canceled.

   • 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin 2003, p. 7:

     Bodin deemed the king of France's power as absolute in the sense that the ruler was ‘absolved’ by divine sanction from legally binding liens and restrictions.

Derived terms

• lienholder

Translations

right to take and hold debtor’s property

• Afrikaans: retensiereg
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 留置權 (zh), 留置权 (zh) (liúzhìquán)

• Czech: zadržovací právo n, retenční právo n
• Dutch: retentierecht n
• Finnish: pidätysoikeus
• French: droit de rétention m
• German: Zurückbehaltungsrecht n, Retentionsrecht n
• Hungarian: visszatartási jog

• Italian: diritto di retenzione m
• Japanese: 担保物権 (ja) (たんぽぶっけん, tanpo bukken)
• Polish: prawo zatrzymania
• Portuguese: direito de retenção m
• Russian: зало́говое пра́во n (zalógovoje právo), зало́г (ru) m (zalóg)
• Serbo-Croatian: pravo zadržaja
• Slovak: záložné právo n
• Slovene: zastavna pravica f
• Spanish: derecho de retención m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Norwegian: ^{(please verify)} heftelse

• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} lån (sv)

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

• lyen

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlaɪən/

Verb

lien

1. (biblical, archaic) Alternative form of lain
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Genesis 26:10:

     And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done vnto vs? one of the people might lightly haue lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest haue brought guiltinesse vpon vs.”

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Numbers 5:19:

     And the Priest shall charge her by an othe, and say vnto the woman, If no man haue lyen with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to vncleannesse with another in stead of thy husband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse.

Etymology 3

Borrowed from Latin lien (“spleen”). Doublet of spleen.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlaɪ.in/, /ˈlaɪ.ən/

Noun

lien (plural lienes)

1. (uncommon, possibly obsolete) The spleen.

   Synonym: milt

   • 1892, John Marie Keating, Henry Hamilton, John Chalmers Da Costa, A New Pronouncing Dictionary of Medicine:

     Li'enal. Pertaining to the lien or spleen; splenic.

   • 1914, Quain's Elements of Anatomy, volume 1, page 312:

     The lien or spleen (figs. 282 to 285) is a soft, highly vascular contractile and very elastic organ of a dark purplish colour. It is placed obliquely behind the stomach, [...]

Related terms

• lienal, lienic

Further reading

• lien on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• LEIN, LINE, Line, Neil, Niel, Nile, line

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Cornish

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈliːɛn]

Noun

lien m (plural liennow)

1. literature

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French

Etymology

From Middle French lien, from Old French lien, liem, from Latin ligāmen (“bond”), from ligō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ljɛ̃/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

lien m (plural liens)

1. link

Related terms

• lier
• relier

Further reading

• “lien” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

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Latin

Alternative forms

• liēnis m

Etymology

Cognate with Old Irish selg, Lithuanian blužnis, Ancient Greek σπλήν (splḗn), Old Armenian փայծաղն (pʿaycałn), Avestan 𐬯𐬞𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬰𐬀𐬥-‎ (spər^əzan-), Sanskrit प्लीहन् (plīhán). Doublet of splen.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈli.eːn/, [ˈlʲi.eːn]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈli.en/, [ˈliː.ɛn]

Noun

liēn m (genitive liēnis); third declension

1. spleen

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	liēn	liēnēs
Genitive	liēnis	liēnum
Dative	liēnī	liēnibus
Accusative	liēnem	liēnēs
Ablative	liēne	liēnibus
Vocative	liēn	liēnēs

References

• lien in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• lien in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette

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Latvian

Verb

lien

1. 2nd person singular present indicative form of līst
2. 3rd person singular present indicative form of līst
3. 3rd person plural present indicative form of līst
4. 2nd person singular imperative form of līst
5. (with the particle lai) 3rd person singular imperative form of līst
6. (with the particle lai) 3rd person plural imperative form of līst

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Livonian

Etymology

Related to Finnish lainata.

Verb

lien

1. (Salaca) give a loan

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Middle Dutch

Etymology 1

From Old Dutch *līan, from Proto-Germanic [Term?].

Verb

liën

1. (transitive) to admit
2. (transitive) to acknowledge, to be convinced
3. (transitive) to declare
4. (intransitive) to assent

Inflection

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Etymology 2

From Old Dutch līan, from Proto-West Germanic *līhwan, from Proto-Germanic *līhwaną, from Proto-Indo-European *leykʷ-.

Verb

liën

1. (eastern) to lend

Inflection

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Further reading

• “liën (II)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929) , “liën (I)”, in Middelniederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page liën
• Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929) , “liën (II)”, in Middelniederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page liën

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Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English liċġan, from Proto-West Germanic *liggjan, from Proto-Germanic *ligjaną.

Verb

lien (third-person singular simple present lith, present participle liende, first-/third-person singular past indicative leie, past participle leien)

1. to lie (be in a horizontal position)
   • c. 1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, General Prologue, lines 19-20:

     Bifil that in that seson, on a day, / In Southwerk at the Tabard as I lay

     It happened that, in that season, on a day / In Southwark, at the Tabard, as I lay

Alternative forms

• lie, li, lin, ligh, liʒ, liʒe, liʒen, lig, lige, ligen, liken, likken, liʒʒe, ligge, liggen, luggen
• licgen, liʒge (early)

Descendants

• English: lie, lig
• Scots: lie

References

• “līen, v.(1).” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

From Old English lēogan, from Proto-West Germanic *leugan, from Proto-Germanic *leuganą.

Verb

lien (third-person singular simple present lieth, present participle liende, first-/third-person singular past indicative legh, past participle louen)

1. to lie (tell a falsehood)

Alternative forms

• li, lie, lin, lighe, lighen, lige, ligen, liʒe, liʒen, liegh, lieʒe, lieʒen, le, lei, leie, leghen, legen, leʒe, leʒen, leiʒe, leiʒen
• lih, lihe, lihen, leʒen, leoʒen, leioʒen, luʒen (early)

Descendants

• English: lie
• Scots: lee

References

• “līen, v.(2).” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 3

From Old French lier, liier (“to tie up, connect”), from Latin ligāre (“to tie, bind”).

Verb

lien (third-person singular simple present lieth, present participle liende, first-/third-person singular past indicative and past participle liid) (cooking)

1. to thicken (a soup, etc.) by mixing
2. to bind (ground meat, etc. with eggs, sauce, etc.)
3. to coat (something with sauce, etc.)

Alternative forms

• li, lie

Descendants

• English: lye

References

• “līen, v.(3).” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 4

From Middle French lien (“tie, strap”), from Latin ligāmen (“bandage, band, tie”).

Noun

lien (plural liens)

1. bond, fetter

Alternative forms

• lieine, leine

Descendants

• English: lien

References

• “līen, n.” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 5

Noun

lien (plural liens)

1. Alternative form of len

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Middle French

Etymology

From Old French lien.

Noun

lien m (plural liens)

1. tie; strap
2. (by extension) link (association)

Descendants

• French: lien
• → Middle English: lien
  • English: lien

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Old French

Alternative forms

• lïen (diareses not universally used in transcriptions of Old French)

Etymology

From Latin ligāmen.

Noun

lien m (oblique plural liens, nominative singular liens, nominative plural lien)

1. tie; strap
   • late 12th century, anonymous, La Folie de Tristan d'Oxford, page 408 (of the Champion Classiques edition of Le Roman de Tristan, →ISBN, lines 901-2:

     Brenguain, ore alez pur le chen,
     amenez k'od tut le lïen

     Brangain, go get the dog,
     bring it with its leash

Descendants

• Middle French: lien
  • French: lien
  • → Middle English: lien
    • English: lien

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Swedish

Noun

lien

1. definite singular of lie

Anagrams

• Elin, ilen