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lenient - 5 dictionary results

le⋅ni⋅ent

[lee-nee-uhnt, leen-yuhnt]
–adjective
1. agreeably tolerant; permissive; indulgent: He tended to be lenient toward the children. More lenient laws encouraged greater freedom of expression.
2. Archaic. softening, soothing, or alleviative.

Origin:
1645–55; < L lēnient- (s. of lēniēns), prp. of lēnīre to soften, alleviate, soothe. See lenis, -ent


le⋅ni⋅ent⋅ly, adverb
le·ni·ent   (lē'nē-ənt, lēn'yənt)   
adj.  Inclined not to be harsh or strict; merciful, generous, or indulgent: lenient parents; lenient rules.

[Obsolete French, from Latin lēniēns, lēnient-, present participle of lēnīre, to pacify, from lēnis, soft; see lē- in Indo-European roots.]
le'ni·ent·ly adv.

Lenient

Le"ni*ent\ (l[=e]"n[i^]*ent or l[=e]n"yent), a. [L. leniens, -entis, p. pr. of lenire to soften, fr. lenis soft, mild. Cf. Lithe.]

1. Relaxing; emollient; softening; assuasive; -- sometimes followed by of. "Lenient of grief." --Milton.

Of relax the fibers, are lenient, balsamic. --Arbuthnot. Time, that on all things lays his lenient hand. --Pope.

2. Mild; clement; merciful; not rigorous or severe; as, a lenient disposition; a lenient judge or sentence.

Lenient

Le"ni*ent\, n. (Med.) A lenitive; an emollient.
Language Translation for : lenient
Spanish: clemente, indulgente,
German: nachsichtig,
Japanese: 寛大な

lenient 
1652, "relaxing, soothing," from M.Fr. lenient, from L. lenientem (nom. leniens), prp. of lenire "to soften, alleviate, mitigate, allay, calm," from lenis "mild, gentle, calm," probably from PIE base *le(i)- "to leave, yield" (cf. Lith. lenas "quiet, tranquil, tame, slow," O.C.S. lena "lazy," L. lassus "faint, weary," O.E. læt "sluggish, slow," lætan "to leave behind"). Sense of "mild, merciful" (of persons) first recorded 1787. In earlier use was lenitive, attested from 1543 of medicines, 1620 of persons.
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