levis

See also: Levis, Lévis, and Levi's

Esperanto

Verb

levis

1. past of levi

Ido

Verb

levis

1. past of levar

Latin

Etymology 1

From Proto-Italic *leɣʷis (with possible contamination from *breɣʷis), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁lengʰwih₂-, from *h₁léngʰus, from *h₁lengʷʰ- (“lightweight”). Cognates include Sanskrit लघु (laghú), Ancient Greek ἐλᾰφρός, ἐλᾰχῠ́ς (elaphrós, elakhús) and Old English lēoht (English light).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈle.u̯is/, [ˈɫ̪eu̯ɪs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈle.vis/, [ˈlɛːvis]

Adjective

levis (neuter leve, comparative levior, superlative levissimus, adverb leviter); third-declension two-termination adjective

1. (literally) light, not heavy
   • c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico 2.10:

     levis armaturae Numidas

     the light-armed Numidians

   Antonym: gravis

2. (transferred sense)
   1. (usually poetic) easy to digest
   2. quick, swift, fleet, nimble, rapid

      Synonyms: agilis, vēlōx, pernīx, prōmptus, properus, facilis

      Antonym: lentus

   3. (usually poetic) slight, trifling, small
      • 8 CE, Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.180:

        levis tactus

        a slight, gentle touch

3. (figuratively)
   1. (Classical Latin) light, trivial, trifling, unimportant, inconsiderable, slight, little, petty, easy, dispensable
      • c. 54 CE, Seneca the Younger, Phaedra 607:

        Curae leues locuntur, ingentes stupent.

        Trivial concerns talk, great ones are speechless.

   2. light, light-minded, capricious, fickle, inconstant, unreliable, false

      Synonym: mendāx

   3. (rare) mild, gentle, pleasant
      • 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 3.17–18:

        dum sedet, umbrōsae salicēs volucrēsque canōrae
        fēcērunt somnōs et leve murmur aquae

        While she sits, the shady willows, the songs of birds,
        and the gentle murmur of the water invite slumber.

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Inflection

Third-declension two-termination adjective.

Number	Singular			Plural
Case / Gender	Masc./Fem.	Neuter		Masc./Fem.	Neuter
Nominative	levis	leve		levēs	levia
Genitive	levis			levium
Dative	levī			levibus
Accusative	levem	leve		levēs levīs	levia
Ablative	levī			levibus
Vocative	levis	leve		levēs	levia

Derived terms

• *leviānus
• leviculus
• levidēnsis
• levifēcit
• levifīdus
• levigō
• levipēs
• levisomnus
• levitās
• leviter
• *levius
• levō
• perlevis

 

Descendants

• Balkan Romance:
  • Proto-Romanian: *lieu
    • ⇒ Aromanian: lishor
    • ⇒ Romanian: ușor
• Italo-Romance:
  • Italian: lieve
• North Italian:
  • Istriot: levo
  • Romansch: lev, leav (Sutsilvan), leiv (Vallader)
• Gallo-Romance:
  • ⇒ Franco-Provençal: levet, levi
  • >? Old French: lief
• Occitano-Romance:
  • Catalan: lleu
  • Gascon: lhèu
  • Old Occitan: leu
    • Occitan: lèu
    • → Portuguese: léu
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Old Spanish: lieve, lief (apocopic variant)
    • Spanish: leve (possibly influenced by Latin)
  • Portuguese: leve

Etymology 2

Uncertain. Possibly from Proto-Italic *lēiwis, from Proto-Indo-European *leh₁y-u- (“smooth”) and cognate to Ancient Greek λεῖος (leîos, “smooth, plain, level, hairless, soft”), Ancient Greek λίς (lís, “smooth”).^[1] Or from Proto-Indo-European *h₂leyH- (“to smear”) and cognate to Latin līmus (“mud, slime, muck”), English slime, Ancient Greek λίμνη (límnē, “marsh”).

Likely cognate to Latin oblīvīscor (“forget”).

Alternative forms

• laevis (incorrect)

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈleː.u̯is/, [ˈɫ̪eːu̯ɪs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈle.vis/, [ˈlɛːvis]

Adjective

lēvis (neuter lēve); third-declension two-termination adjective

1. (literally, Classical Latin) smooth, not rough, smoothed, shining, rubbed

   Antonym: asper

   1. (poetic) slippery
      • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 5.328:

        levi cum sanguine Nisus labitur infelix

   2. (poetic) without hair, beardless

      Synonym: imberbis

   3. (poetic) youthful, delicate, beautiful; finely dressed, spruce, effeminate
2. (transferred sense, rare) rubbed smooth, ground down, softened, soft
3. (Classical Latin, rare) (of speech) smooth, flowing

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Inflection

Third-declension two-termination adjective.

Number	Singular			Plural
Case / Gender	Masc./Fem.	Neuter		Masc./Fem.	Neuter
Nominative	lēvis	lēve		lēvēs	lēvia
Genitive	lēvis			lēvium
Dative	lēvī			lēvibus
Accusative	lēvem	lēve		lēvēs lēvīs	lēvia
Ablative	lēvī			lēvibus
Vocative	lēvis	lēve		lēvēs	lēvia

Derived terms

• lēvitās
• lēvītōnārium
• lēvitūdō
• lēvō
• lēvor

 

Related terms

• oblīvīscor

References

• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “lĕvis”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volume 5: J L, page 290

1. De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “lēvis”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 336-337

References

• “levis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “levis”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• levis in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• levis in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • a man of character, with a strong personality: vir constans, gravis (opp. homo inconstans, levis)
    
  • light infantry: milites levis armaturae
    
  • (ambiguous) men of sound opinions: homines graves (opp. leves)