| the largest part or share, esp. a disproportionate portion: The eldest son received the lion's share of the estate. |
li·on  (lī'ən)  n.
[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin leō, leōn-, from Greek leōn, of Semitic origin; see lb  in Semitic roots.]Word History: Old French lion is the source of English lion, and the Old French word comes from Latin leō, leōnis. After that the etymology is less clear. The Latin word is related somehow to Greek leōn, leontos (earlier *lewōn, *lewontos), which appears in the name of the Spartan king Leonidas, "Lion's son," who perished at Thermopylae. The Greek word is somehow related to Coptic labai, laboi, "lioness." In turn, Coptic labai is borrowed from a Semitic source related to Hebrew lābī' and Akkadian labbu. There is also a native ancient Egyptian word, rw (where r can stand for either r or l and vowels were not indicated), which is surely related as well. Since lions were native to Africa, Asia, and Europe in ancient times (Aristotle tells us there were lions in Macedon in his day), we have no way of ascertaining who borrowed which word from whom. |
A disproportionately large segment of the whole: “Though we always divided our winnings, somehow Barton always seemed to end up with the lion's share.”
lion's share
|
lion's share
The greater part or most of something, as in Whenever they won a doubles match, Ethel claimed the lion's share of the credit, or As usual, Uncle Bob took the lion's share of the cake. This expression alludes to Aesop's fable about a lion, who got all of a kill because its fellow hunters, an ass, fox, and wolf, were afraid to claim their share. [Late 1700s]