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}.] [1913 Webster] 1. Relaxing; emollient; softening; assuasive; sometimes followed by of. Lenient of grief. Milton.… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
lenient — (adj.) 1650s, 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 root *le to leave, yield, let go, slacken (Cf.… … Etymology dictionary
Lenient — Le ni*ent, n. (Med.) A lenitive; an emollient. [1913 Webster] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
Lenient — (spr. löniang), Charles, franz. Literarhistoriker, geb. 1825 in Provins (Seine et Marne), seit 1865 Professor der französischen Dichtkunst an der Pariser Sorbonne. Er veröffentlichte: »La satire en France an moyen âge« (1859, 4. Aufl. 1893; von… … Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon
lenient — 1 *soft, gentle, smooth, mild, bland, balmy Analogous words: assuaging, alleviating, relieving (see RELIEVE): grateful, agreeable, welcome, gratifying, pleasing, *pleasant Antonyms: caustic Contrasted words: harsh, *rough 2 indulgent, merciful,… … New Dictionary of Synonyms
lenient — [adj] permissive allowing, amiable, assuaging, assuasive, being big*, benign, benignant, charitable, clement, compassionate, complaisant, compliant, condoning, easy, easygoing, emollient, excusing, favoring, forbearing, forgiving, gentle, going… … New thesaurus
lenient — ► ADJECTIVE ▪ merciful or tolerant. DERIVATIVES lenience noun leniency noun leniently adverb. ORIGIN from Latin lenire soothe , from lenis mild, gentle … English terms dictionary
lenient — [lēn′yənt, lē′nē ənt] adj. [L leniens, prp. of lenire, to soften, alleviate < lenis, smooth, soft, mild < IE base * leī : see LATE] 1. not harsh or severe in disciplining, punishing, judging, etc.; mild; merciful; clement 2. Archaic… … English World dictionary
lenient — 01. I think his parents are too [lenient]! He gets into all kinds of trouble, and they never do anything about it. 02. The suspect s lawyer asked the judge for [leniency] in sentencing because it was his first offence. 03. I don t think it is… … Grammatical examples in English
lenient — adjective Brother Andrew was a lenient teacher Syn: merciful, clement, forgiving, forbearing, tolerant, charitable, humane, indulgent, easygoing, magnanimous, sympathetic, compassionate, mild See note at mercy Ant … Thesaurus of popular words
