leaven

English

WOTD – 22 November 2009

Etymology

From Middle English levayn, borrowed from Old French levain, from Vulgar Latin *levāmen, a noun based on Latin levō (“raise”).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈlɛv.ən/, [ˈlɛvn̩]

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛvən

Noun

leaven (countable and uncountable, plural leavens)

1. Any agent used to make dough rise or to have a similar effect on baked goods.
2. (figurative) Anything that induces change, especially a corrupting or vitiating change.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Mark 8:15:

     Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.

   • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXXVI, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 299:

     On the far side was reflected a single red and meteoric cloud, which had treasured one last crimson ray from the sunset, or perhaps nursed within it the fiery leaven.

   • 1926, T.E. Lawrence, Seven Pillars of Wisdom, New York: Anchor, published 1991, page 213:

     The leaven of insincerity worked through all the fibres of his being.

Synonyms

• (any agent used to make dough rise): leavening agent, raising agent

Hypernyms

• (any agent used to make dough rise): agent, substance

Hyponyms

• (any agent used to make dough rise): baking powder, yeast

Derived terms

• leavenless
• natural leaven

Translations

any agent used to make dough rise

• Arabic: خَمِيرَة f (ḵamīra)
• Armenian: թթխմոր (hy) (tʻtʻxmor)
• Azerbaijani: maya (az)
• Bulgarian: набухвател m (nabuhvatel)
• Catalan: llevat (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 酵母 (zh) (jiàomǔ), 麵肥 / 面肥 (zh) (miànféi)

• Classical Nahuatl: xocotextli
• Cornish: gwel m
• Dutch: rijsmiddel (nl) n
• Esperanto: fermentilo
• Finnish: nostatusaine (fi)
• French: levain (fr) m, ferment (fr) m
• Friulian: levan m
• Galician: lévedo (gl) m, fermento (gl) m, isco m
• German: Treibmittel n, Triebmittel n, Ferment (de) n
• Gothic: 𐌱𐌴𐌹𐍃𐍄 n (beist)
• Greek:

  Ancient: ζύμη f (zúmē)

• Hebrew: שאור (he) (s'or)
• Hungarian: kovász (hu), élesztő (hu)
• Ido: hefo (io)
• Irish: gabháil m
• Italian: lievito (it)
• Japanese: パン種 (pan-dane), 膨張剤 (ぼうちょうざい, bōchōzai)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: ھەوێن (hewên)

  Northern Kurdish: havên (ku)

• Latvian: rauga f
• Lithuanian: raugas m
• Malay: bahan penaik
• Manx: jastee m, jiastyn f, soorid m
• Maori: rēwena
• Middle English: sour dogh, levayn
• Norwegian: hevingsmiddel n
• Occitan: levam (oc) m
• Old Church Slavonic: квасъ m (kvasŭ)
• Ottoman Turkish: مایه (maya)
• Persian: مایه (fa) (mâye)
• Polish: zakwas (pl) m, zaczyn m (sourdough starter), drożdże (pl) nvir pl (yeast)
• Portuguese: fermento (pt) m, levedura (pt) f
• Romanian: plămădeală (ro) f, maia (ro) f, covoseală f, plămadă (ro) f
• Romansch: levon m, levànt m, lavamaint m, tschadamaint m, alvo, alvamaint m
• Russian: заква́ска (ru) f (zakváska), разрыхли́тель (ru) m (razryxlítelʹ) (те́ста)
• Sicilian: criscenti (scn)
• Spanish: levadura (es) f, polvos de hornear m pl
• Swahili: chachu (sw) class 9, hamira (sw)
• Tagalog: lebadura
• Turkish: maya (tr)
• Venetan: levà m
• Walloon: lewin (wa) m
• Welsh: surdoes m, eples m, lefain m

Verb

leaven (third-person singular simple present leavens, present participle leavening, simple past and past participle leavened)

1. (transitive) To add a leavening agent.
2. (transitive) To cause to rise by fermentation.
3. (transitive, figuratively) To temper an action or decision.
   • c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:

     Duke. No more euasion:
     We haue with a leauen'd, and prepared choice
     Proceeded to you; therefore take your honors:[...]

   • 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page vii:

     With fresh material, taxonomic conclusions are leavened by recognition that the material examined reflects the site it occupied; a herbarium packet gives one only a small fraction of the data desirable for sound conclusions. Herbarium material does not, indeed, allow one to extrapolate safely: what you see is what you get […]

4. (transitive, figuratively) To imbue; to infect; to vitiate.
   • 1649, John Milton, Eikonoklastes‎^[1], London, published 1756, page 30:

     With these and the like deceivable doctrines, he levens also his prayer.

   • 1716, Thomas Browne, edited by Samuel Johnson, Christian Morals‎^[2], 2nd edition, London: J. Payne, published 1756, Part I, p. 7:

     […] pursue virtue virtuously: leven not good actions, nor render virtues disputable. Stain not fair acts with foul intentions […]

5. To rise or become larger; to prove. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Alternative forms

• leven (obsolete)

Derived terms

• leavened
• leavening
• unleavened

Translations

to add leavening

• Finnish: nostattaa (fi)
• Ido: hefizar
• Italian: lievitare (it)
• Romanian: plămădi (ro)
• Spanish: leudar (es)

to cause to rise by fermentation

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 膨鬆 / 膨松 (zh) (péngsōng)

• Finnish: nostattaa (fi), kohottaa (fi)
• French: faire lever, faire fermenter
• Galician: levedar (gl)
• Hawaiian: hū
• Hungarian: keleszt (hu), megkeleszt, erjeszt (hu)
• Italian: lievitare (it)
• Maori: rēwena
• Norwegian: heve (no)
• Persian: وراوردن (fa) (varâvardan)
• Spanish: leudar (es)
• Tahitian: hōpue

See also

• yeast

German

Etymology

From English leave +‎ -en.

Verb

leaven (third-person singular present leavt, past tense leavte, past participle geleaved or geleavt, auxiliary haben or sein)

1. (slang, gaming, otherwise rare) to leave

   Synonym: quitten

West Frisian

Noun

leaven

1. plural of leaf