lien

English

Etymology 1

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈliːn/, /ˈliːən/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːn, -iːən
• 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, published 2003, page 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

Translations

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

• lyen

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlaɪən/
• Rhymes: -aɪən

Verb

lien

1. (biblical, archaic) Alternative form of lain
   • 1611, The Holy Bible,  (King James Version), London: Robert Barker, , →OCLC, 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, 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 liēn (“spleen”). Doublet of spleen.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlaɪ.in/, /ˈlaɪ.ən/
• Rhymes: -aɪin, -aɪən

Noun

lien (plural lienes)

2. (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
• lieno-

Further reading

• lien on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

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

Cornish

Etymology

From Middle Cornish lyen, from Proto-Brythonic *lleɣenn, from Latin legendum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Noun

lien m (plural liennow)

1. literature

French

Etymology

Inherited 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

Derived terms

• lien mort

Related terms

• lier
• relier

Further reading

• “lien”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Latin

Alternative forms

• liēnis m

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European, reflecting a form *(s)li(ǵʰ)-ēn-, from the root *spelǵʰ- (“spleen”), heavily distorted in all of its descendants, likely for tabooistic reasons, making the exact original PIE form hard to pin down. The newly introduced -i- is seemingly also found in the Sanskrit cognate प्लीहन् (plīhán), the fall of *-h- < *-ǵʰ- is also observed in Ancient Greek σπλήν (splḗn), while the loss of *-p- is also visible in Proto-Slavic *selzenь.

Other cognates include Old Irish selg, Lithuanian blužnis, Old Armenian փայծաղն (pʻaycałn), Avestan 𐬯𐬞𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬰𐬀𐬥- (spər^əzan-). Doublet of splēn.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈli.eːn/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈli.en/,

Noun

liēn m (genitive liēnis); third declension

1. spleen

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Descendants

• → English: lien, lieno-; ⇒ lienal, lienic
• → Esperanto: lieno
• → Romanian: lien

References

Further reading

• “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.

Latvian

Verb

lien

1. inflection of līst:
   1. second/third-person singular present indicative
   2. third-person plural present indicative
   3. second-person singular imperative
2. (with the particle lai) third-person singular imperative of līst
3. (with the particle lai) third-person plural imperative of līst

Livonian

Etymology

Derived from Proto-Finnic *laihna, from a Germanic borrowing. Related to Finnish lainata. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Verb

lien

1. (Salaca) give a loan

Middle Dutch

Etymology 1

From Old Dutch *līan, from Proto-Germanic .

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

Middle English

Etymology 1

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

Alternative forms

• lie, li, lin, ligh, liȝ, liȝe, liȝen, lig, lige, ligen, liken, likken, liȝȝe, ligge, liggen, luggen
• licgen, liȝge (Early Middle English)

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

Descendants

• English: lie, lig
• Scots: lie
• Yola: lee, lidge

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, liȝe, liȝen, liegh, lieȝe, lieȝen, le, lei, leie, leghen, legen, leȝe, leȝen, leiȝe, leiȝen
• lih, lihe, lihen, leȝen, leoȝen, leioȝen, luȝen (Early Middle English)

Descendants

• English: lie
• Scots: lee
• Yola: liest (sg.2)

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

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

Old French

Alternative forms

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

Etymology

From Latin ligāmen.

Noun

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

1. tie; strap
   • late 12th century, anonymous author, “La Folie de Tristan d'Oxford”, in Le Roman de Tristan, Champion Classiques edition, →ISBN, page 408, 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

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin liēn. Doublet of spleen and splină.

Noun

lien n (plural lienuri)

1. spleen

   Synonym: splină

Declension

Swedish

Noun

lien

1. definite singular of lie

Anagrams

• Elin, ilen