levant

See also: Levant

English

WOTD – 8 August 2015

Etymology 1

Transferral use of Levant, from French levant. Compare French faire voile en Levant (“to sail eastward”), literally: set the sail with the Levant, an easterly wind that blows in the Mediterranean Sea.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɪˈvænt/

• Audio (Canada):

  (file)

Noun

levant (plural levants)

1. A disappearing or absconding after losing a bet.

Verb

levant (third-person singular simple present levants, present participle levanting, simple past and past participle levanted)

1. To abscond or run away, especially to avoid paying money or debts.
   • 1885, Sir Richard Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Night 16:

     In a mighty little time their husbands played them false and, taking whatever they could lay hands upon, levanted and left them in the lurch.

   • 1922 February, James Joyce, Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:

     He died of a Tuesday. Got the run. Levanted with the cash of a few ads.

Translations

to abscond or run away

Bulgarian: офейквам (bg) (ofejkvam) Czech: prásknout do bot (cs) (idiom) Finnish: livistää (fi) Swedish: smita (sv), rymma (sv), sjappa (sv) (slang)

Etymology 2

From French levant.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɛvənt/

Adjective

levant (not comparable)

1. (heraldry) Rising, of an animal.
   • 1932, Notes & Queries for Somerset and Dorset:

     Crest, a stag regardant levant argent.

   • 1977, Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and Natural History, Proceedings:

     [...] crest a raven levant sable issant out of a […]

   • 1980, Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History, Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History:

     [...] neck grene acornes proper wounded on his left sholder and at her feet there is a fawcon issant levant argent out of a crowne or.

2. (law) Rising or having risen from rest; said of cattle.
3. (poetic) Eastern.

   Synonyms: oriental, eastern

   Antonyms: occidental, western, ponent

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

     Forth rush the levant and the ponent winds.

Derived terms

• couchant and levant
• levant and couchant

Anagrams

• -valent, valent, vental

French

Etymology

Participle adjective of lever (“to raise”). Corresponds to Latin levantem (“raising”), in reference to the rising of the sun; compare Italian levante.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lə.vɑ̃/

• Audio (Paris):

  (file)

Adjective

levant (feminine levante, masculine plural levants, feminine plural levantes)

1. (of the moon, the sun, etc.) rising

   Antonym: couchant

Noun

levant m (uncountable)

1. the east, the orient

   Synonym: orient

   Antonyms: ponant, occident

Participle

levant

1. present participle of lever

Derived terms

• Levant

Further reading

• “levant”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• lavent, valent

Latin

Verb

levant

1. third-person plural present active indicative of levō