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leavening

 - 5 dictionary results

leav⋅en⋅ing

  [lev-uh-ning]
Use leavening in a Sentence
–noun
1. Also called leavening agent. a substance used to produce fermentation in dough or batter; leaven.
2. the act or process of causing to ferment by leaven.
3. leaven (def. 3).
Origin:
1600–10; leaven + -ing 1

leav⋅en

  [lev-uhn]
–noun
1. a substance, as yeast or baking powder, that causes fermentation and expansion of dough or batter.
2. fermented dough reserved for producing fermentation in a new batch of dough.
3. an element that produces an altering or transforming influence.
–verb (used with object)
4. to add leaven to (dough or batter) and cause to rise.
5. to permeate with an altering or transforming element.
Origin:
1300–50; ME levain < AF, OF levain < VL *levāmen, equiv. to L levā(re) to raise + -men deverbal n. suffix (prob. not continuous with L levāmen means of alleviating, solace)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To leavening
leav·en   (lěv'ən)   
n.  

  1. An agent, such as yeast, that causes batter or dough to rise, especially by fermentation.

  2. An element, influence, or agent that works subtly to lighten, enliven, or modify a whole.

tr.v.   leav·ened, leav·en·ing, leav·ens

  1. To add a rising agent to.

  2. To cause to rise, especially by fermentation.

  3. To pervade with a lightening, enlivening, or modifying influence.


[Middle English, from Old French levain, from Vulgar Latin *levāmen, from Latin levāre, to raise; see legwh- in Indo-European roots.]
leav·en·ing   (lěv'ə-nĭng)   
n.  An agent that causes rising, fermentation, or ferment; leaven.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

leaven  (n.)
1340, from O.Fr. levain (12c.), from L. levamen "alleviation, mitigation," but used in V.L. in its literal sense of "a means of lifting, something that raises," from levare "to raise" (see lever). The verb is attested from 1422.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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