leme

See also: Leme, lemé, and lëmë

English

Alternative forms

• leam, leem

Etymology

From Middle English leem, leme, leam, from Old English lēoma (“light, brightness”); akin to light.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /liːm/
• Rhymes: -iːm

Noun

leme (plural lemes)

1. (obsolete) A ray or glimmer of light; a gleam.
   • 1531, Thomas Elyot, edited by Ernest Rhys, The Boke Named the Governour […] (Everyman’s Library), London: J[oseph] M[alaby] Dent & Co; New York, N.Y.: E[dward] P[ayson] Dutton & Co, published [1907], →OCLC:

     Thereby the incomprehensible majestie of God, as it were by a bright leme of a torch or candle, is declared to the blinde inhabitants of this world.

Verb

leme (third-person singular simple present lemes, present participle leming, simple past and past participle lemed)

1. (obsolete, intransitive) To shine.

References

• “leme”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Emel, mele, Elem, elem., elem, LEEM

Farefare

Etymology

Cognate with Moore leemse (“to taste”)

Pronunciation

/lè.mè/

Verb

leme (imperfect lemnɩ, lɛmna)

1. to taste

Galician

Etymology

Obscure. Perhaps from Basque lema, ultimately from Latin temō. Alternatively, from a Germanic origin. Compare French limon.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɛme̝/

Noun

leme m (plural lemes)

1. (nautical) rudder (underwater vane used to steer a vessel)

   Synonym: temón

2. (aeronautics) rudder (control surface of an aircraft)

   Synonym: temón

3. (figurative) good judgement

   Synonyms: sentidiño, xuízo

References

• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “leme”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “leme”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “leme”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Further reading

• leme on the Galician Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^gl

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch *limu, from Proto-Germanic *limuz.

Noun

leme f

1. fishbone
2. (generally prickly) stalk or other part of a plant

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

• Dutch: leem

Further reading

• “leme”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “leme (II)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page II

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English lēoma, from Proto-West Germanic *leuhmō.

Forms with /ɛː/ are unexpected; they may be due to the influence of beem and gleem.

Alternative forms

• leem, lem, leom, lewme, lume, lym, lyme
• leame, leome, lome (Early Middle English)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈleːm(ə)/, /ˈlɛːm(ə)/

Noun

leme (plural lemes)

1. Fire or an instance of it; a blaze.
2. Light, brightness, or an instance of it:
   1. A gleam; a short burst of light.
   2. A ray or column of light.
      • 1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Tale of the Nonnes Preest”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], →OCLC; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London]: […] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], 1542, →OCLC:

        Firis with red lemes.

        (please add an English translation of this quotation)

3. (figuratively) Wisdom, revelation, or one who grants it.

Descendants

• English: leam
• Scots: leim, leme

References

• “lẹ̄m(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

Noun

leme (plural lemes)

1. Alternative form of lyme

Mokilese

Verb

leme

1. (transitive) to think about

Derived terms

• lemlem

References

• Harrison, Sheldon P., Mokilese-English Dictionary, University of Hawaii Press 1977

Portuguese

Etymology

Unknown.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈle.mi/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈle.mi/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈle.me/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈlɛ.mɨ/

• Homophone: lê-me (Brazil)
• Rhymes: -emi
• Hyphenation: le‧me

Noun

leme m (plural lemes)

1. (nautical) rudder (underwater vane used to steer a vessel)
2. (aeronautics) rudder (control surface of an aircraft)

Derived terms

• leme de direção
• leme de profundidade
• leme horizontal
• leme vertical
• perder o leme