# levis
## Esperanto
### Verb

levis
* past of levi

## Ido
### Verb

levis
* 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: /ˈle.u̯is/, [ˈɫ̪eu̯ɪs̠]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /ˈle.vis/, [ˈlɛːvis]

#### Adjective

levis (neuter leve, comparative levior, superlative levissimus, adverb leviter); third-declension two-termination adjective
* (literally) light, not heavy
** c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico 2.10:levis armaturae Numidasthe light-armed Numidians
    Antonym: gravis
* (transferred sense)
** (usually poetic) easy to digest
** quick, swift, fleet, nimble, rapid
    Synonyms: agilis, vēlōx, pernīx, prōmptus, properus, facilis
    Antonym: lentus
** (usually poetic) slight, trifling, small
*** 8 CE, Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.180:levis tactusa slight, gentle touch
* (figuratively)
** (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.
** light, light-minded, capricious, fickle, inconstant, unreliable, false
    Synonym: mendāx
** (rare) mild, gentle, pleasant
*** 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 3.17–18:dum sedet, umbrōsae salicēs volucrēsque canōrae fēcērunt somnōs et leve murmur aquaeWhile she sits, the shady willows, the songs of birds, and the gentle murmur of the water invite slumber.
* This entry needs quotations to illustrate usage. If you come across any interesting, durably archived quotes then please add them!

##### Inflection

Third-declension two-termination adjective.

##### 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”). 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: /ˈleː.u̯is/, [ˈɫ̪eːu̯ɪs̠]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /ˈle.vis/, [ˈlɛːvis]

#### Adjective

lēvis (neuter lēve); third-declension two-termination adjective
* (literally, Classical Latin) smooth, not rough, smoothed, shining, rubbed
    Antonym: asper
** (poetic) slippery
*** 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 5.328:levi cum sanguine Nisus labitur infelix
** (poetic) without hair, beardless
    Synonym: imberbis
** (poetic) youthful, delicate, beautiful; finely dressed, spruce, effeminate
* (transferred sense, rare) rubbed smooth, ground down, softened, soft
* (Classical Latin, rare) (of speech) smooth, flowing
* This entry needs quotations to illustrate usage. If you come across any interesting, durably archived quotes then please add them!

##### Inflection

Third-declension two-termination adjective.

##### 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
* ↑ 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)