leonine means of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a lion; lionlike.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, leonine ranks #2,580 of 14,456 for The Improbable, #3,474 of 14,440 for Most Satisfying to Say, #7,084 of 14,414 for Most Elegant Words, #7,102 of 14,448 for Funniest Words.
leonine is pronounced /ˈliːənaɪn/.
Why “leonine” is a great word
Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a lion; lionlike. From Late Middle English leonin, leonine, from Old French leonin and from Latin leōnīnus (“of or pertaining to a lion”), from leō (“lion”) + -īnus (“of or pertaining to”). Unlike “feline,” which denotes the entire biological family of cats, or “regal,” which speaks to a general, often ceremonious majesty, “leonine” evokes a specific, embodied sovereignty—the physical, predatory, and territorial power of the lion. It is the dense, sun-warmed mane framing a golden stare, the heavy, rolling gait of shoulders built for power, and the low-frequency rumble felt in the chest before it is heard in the ears—a quiet, burning certainty of a presence that needs neither motion nor sound to command the world’s hush.
Etymology
From Late Middle English leonin, leonine (“characteristic of a lion, lionlike”), from Old French leonin, and from its etymon Latin leōnīnus (“of or pertaining to a lion”), from leō (“lion”) (from Ancient Greek λέων (léōn, “lion”); further etymology uncertain) + -īnus (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’).
adj
- Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a lion; lionlike.“He was of a leonine-coloured haire, sanguinocholerique, middle sized, strong.”
- Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a lion; lionlike.; Of a facies (“a person's facial features”): resembling those of a lion as a result of some disease, especially a form of leprosy which causes leontiasis (“a medical condition characterized by an overgrowth of the cranial and facial bones”); also, of leprosy: causing a lionlike facies.“leonine facies”
- Of or pertaining to one of the popes named Leo; specifically (in Leonine City), to Pope Leo IV (r. 847–855) who ordered the building of a wall around Vatican Hill to protect what is now Vatican City, or (in Leonine Prayers) to Pope Leo XIV (r. 2025–present).“The Nineteenth and Tvventieth Days vvere ſpent in ſeeing the Monuments of the Leonine City, the Vatican Church, the Palace and Library.”
- Being or relating to a kind of medieval Latin verse, generally alternative hexameter and pentameter, with rhyming at the middle and end of a line (that is, internal rhyme); also (by extension), of or relating to modern verse having internal rhyme.“leonine rhyme”
noun
- Synonym of Leonine verse (“a kind of medieval Latin verse, generally alternative hexameter and pentameter, with rhyming at the middle and end of a line (that is, internal rhyme)”).“A[llen]. The Clink of Syllables call'd Rymes, / Brought in ith' barb'rous Runick times, / To ſober Criticks ſeems to be / A paultry part of Poetry, / Becoming Monkiſh dull Divines, / VVho traded much in Leonines. / J[ohn]. Altho' to ſpoil I ſhould be ſorry, / An undergraduate Antiquary, / Yet I'll produce a Line or tvvo / Of Leonines in Cicero, / Before the Monks long time ago.”
- A 13th-century coin minted in Europe and used in England as a debased form of the sterling silver penny; it was outlawed under Edward I (reigned 1272–1307).“In the eyghte and twentye yere of his raign in the Chriſtmaſſe ſeaſon Kyng Edwarde ſet foorth a proclamation, forbidding and prohibiting all foraine coine to bee receyued and payde as ſterling mony wythin his dominion, commaunding by the ſame proclamation, that two peeces of them ſhould go for one ſterlying, vntill the feaſt of Eaſtre. There were diuers moneyes in thoſe dayes currant wythin this r”
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