# lion
## English
### Alternative forms

* lyon (obsolete)

### Etymology

From Middle English lyoun, lion, leon, borrowed from Old French lion, from Latin leō, (accusative: leōnem), from Ancient Greek λέων (léōn), of unclear origin. Doublet of Leo, leu, lev, and Lyon. Displaced Old English lēo.

### Pronunciation

* enPR: lī'ən, IPA: /ˈlaɪən/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -aɪən

### Noun

lion (plural lions or (rare) lion)
* A big cat, Panthera leo, native to Africa, India and formerly much of Europe.
    Tigers and lions share a common ancestor from a few million years ago.
** 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 14, page 311:For with ſuch puiſſance and impetuous maine / Thoſe Champions broke on them, that forſt the fly, / Like ſcattered Sheepe, whenas the Shepherds ſwaine / A Lyon and a Tigre doth eſpye, / With greedy pace forth ruſhing from the foreſt nye.
** (in particular) A male lion, as opposed to a lioness.
* (by extension) Any of various extant and extinct big cats, especially the mountain lion.
* A Chinese foo dog.
* A person who shows attributes associated with the lion, such as strength, courage, or ferocity.
** 2003, Peter Armstrong, Angus McBride, Stirling Bridge & Falkirk 1297–98: William Wallace's Rebellion:It was said of [Edward Plantaganet] that ‘he was a lion for pride and ferocity but a pard for inconstancy and changeableness, not keeping his word or promise but excusing himself with fair words’.
* A famous person regarded with interest and curiosity.
** 1847 March 30, Herman Melville, Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas; […], London: John Murray, […], →OCLC:During this period, we were the lions of the neighbourhood; and, no doubt, strangers from the ​distant villages were taken to see the "Karhowrees" (white men), in the same way that countrymen, in a city, are gallanted to the Zoological Gardens.
** 1844, John Wilson, Essay on the Genius, and Character of Burns:Such society was far more enjoyable than that of Edinburgh, for here he was not a lion, but a man.
** 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 84:The men were delighted to go, and became the lions of the following season in Adelaide.
** 1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, “ch. 4”, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC:Rose Waterford was a cynic. She looked upon life as an opportunity for writing novels and the public as her raw material. Now and then she invited members of it to her house if they showed an appreciation of her talent and entertained with proper lavishness. She held their weakness for lions in good-humoured contempt, but played to them her part of the distinguished woman of letters with decorum.
** 1965 August, Mississippi Phil Ochs, “The Newport Fuzz Festival”, in The Realist‎, number 61, retrieved 2022-11-13, page 11:Heated comments were exchanged, and, before anyone could say, "festival," the two lions of the folk power structure were rolling in the dirt.
** 2014, Camper Van Beethoven (lyrics and music), “City of Industry”, in El Camino Real, performed by Camper Van Beethoven:So bring a basket for the lions / Of City of Industry
* A light brown color that resembles the fur of a lion. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
    lion:
* (historical) An old Scottish coin, with a lion on the obverse, worth 74 shillings.

#### Holonyms

* (individual Panthera leo): pride

#### Coordinate terms

* (Panthera leo): cougar, leopard, panther, puma, tiger
* (male lion individual): cub, lioness

#### Derived terms

* African lion
* African Lion Dog
* African Lion Hound
* American lion
* antlion, ant lion
* aphid lion, aphis lion
* Asian lion
* Asiatic lion
* Atlas lion
* Barbary lion
* beard the lion
* beard the lion in his den
* brave as a lion
* California sea lion
* Cape lion
* cave lion
* Cotswold lion
* cowardly lion
* dandelion
* Essex lion
* foo lion
* Galapagos sea lion, Galápagos sea lion
* golden lion tamarin
* Japanese sea lion
* leopon
* liger
* lion ant
* lion cub
* lion cut
* lion dance
* lion diet
* lion dog
* lioness
* lionfish, lion fish
* Lionheart
* lionhearted, lion-hearted
* lion-heartedly
* lion-heartedness
* lionhood
* lion hunter
* lion in the way
* lionise, lionize
* lionish
* lionism
* lionkeeper
* lionlike
* lionling
* lion lizard
* lionly
* lion mask
* Lion of Judah
* Lion of St Mark
* Lion of Venice
* lion's ear
* lion's foot
* Lion's Head
* lionship
* lion's leaf
* lion's share
* lion's tail
* lion's tooth
* lion-tailed macaque
* lion tamarin
* lion tamer
* March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb
* marsupial lion
* mountain lion
* Nemean lion
* northern lion
* Nubian lion
* red lion
* sea lion, sea-lion
* snow lion
* South American sea lion
* Steller sea lion
* Steller's sea lion
* steppe lion
* tigon
* twist the lion's tail
* white lion

#### Related terms

* Chameleon
* leo
* Leon
* Leonids
* leonine
* Lion's club
* Lion's sermon

#### Descendants

* → Hawaiian: liona
* → Japanese: ライオン (raion)
* → Maia: laion
* → Tokelauan: leona

#### Translations

Abenaki: pitôlo
Abkhaz: алым (aləm)
Adyghe: аслъан (aslˢan)
Afar: lubaka, lubak
Afrikaans: leeu (af)
Akan: gyata n
Akkadian: 𒆷𒁍𒌝 m (lābum), 𒌨𒈤 m (nēšum)
Albanian: luan (sq) m
Amharic: አንበሳ m (ʾänbäsa)
Arabic: أَسَد (ar) m (ʔasad), لَيْث m (layṯ)
Chadian Arabic: دود m (dūd)
Egyptian Arabic: أسَد m (ʔásad), سبع m (sabʕ)
Hijazi Arabic: أسد m (ʔasad)
Moroccan Arabic: سبع m (sbaʕ)
South Levantine Arabic: أسَد m (ʔásad), سبع m (sabʕ)
Aragonese: lión m
Aramaic:
Classical Syriac: ܐܪܝܐ m (ʾaryā)
Jewish Aramaic: אַרְיָא m (ʾaryā)
Armenian: առյուծ (hy) (aṙyuc)
Old Armenian: առիւծ (aṙiwc)
Aromanian: ljundar m, aslan m
Assamese: সিংহ (xiṅho)
Asturian: lleón (ast) m, llión
Avar: гъалбацӏ (ğalbacʼ)
Azerbaijani: aslan (az), şir (az)
Baiso: luban
Bashkir: арыҫлан (arıślan)
Basque: lehoi (eu)
Bau Bidayuh: singa
Belanda Bor: ꞌdübor
Belarusian: леў m (ljeŭ)
Bengali: সিংহ (bn) (śiṅho), শের (bn) (śer)
Bongo: kpülï
Bouyei: jizlanz, siyzij
Brunei Malay: singa
Bulgarian: лъв (bg) m (lǎv)
Burmese: ခြင်္သေ့ (my) (hkrangse.), သီဟ (my) (siha.)
Buryat: арсалан (arsalan)
Carpathian Rusyn: лев m (lev)
Catalan: lleó (ca) m
Cebuano: leon
Central Atlas Tamazight: ⵉⵣⵎ (izm), ⴰⵢⵔⴰⴷ (ayrad)
Central Huishui Hmong: tsov ntxhuav
Central Melanau: singa
Chagatai: ارسلان
Chechen: лом (lom)
Cherokee: ᏝᏓᏥ (tladatsi), ᎲᏓᏱ (hvdayi), ᏢᏓᏥ ᎤᏍᏆᎴᏂ (tlvdatsi usqualeni)
Chichewa: mkango
Chinese:
Cantonese: 獅子 / 狮子 (si$^1$ zi$^2$)
Dungan: сызы (sɨzɨ)
Eastern Min: 獅 / 狮 (săi)
Gan: 獅子 / 狮子 (si$^1$ zi)
Hakka: 獅仔 / 狮仔 (sṳ̂-é)
Hokkien: 獅 / 狮 (zh-min-nan) (sai / su / sir), 獅仔 / 狮仔 (sai-á) (Xiamen Hokkien)
Jin: 獅子 / 狮子 (si$^1$ zeh)
Mandarin: 獅子 / 狮子 (zh) (shīzi), 獅 / 狮 (zh) (shī)
Northern Min: 獅子 / 狮子 (sú-cǔ)
Wu: 獅子 / 狮子 ($^1$sy-tsy)
Xiang: 獅子 / 狮子 (sr$^1$ zr)
Chuvash: арӑслан (arăslan)
Coptic:
(Sahidic): ⲙⲟⲩⲓ m (moui), ⲙⲟⲩⲉⲓ m (mouei), ⲗⲉⲱⲛ m (leōn)
(Bohairic): ⲙⲟⲩⲓ m (moui), ⲗⲁⲃⲟ m (labo), ⲃⲉⲗⲑⲱⲛ m (belthōn), ⲙⲱⲟⲩⲓ m pl (mōoui)
Cornish: lew m, lion (kw)
Corsican: lionu (co) m
Crimean Tatar: arslan
Czech: lev (cs) m
Danish: løve (da) c, løvinde (da) c (female)
Dazaga: dugulí
Dinka: kör
Dirasha: karma
Dongolawi: ايرجيل (errigeel)
Dutch: leeuw (nl) m
Dzongkha: སེངགེ (sengge)
Eastern Mari: арыслан (aryslan)
Egyptian: (mꜣj m)
Elfdalian: läjon n
Erzya: арыслан (arïslan)
Esperanto: leono (eo), virleono (male), leonino (eo) (female)
Estonian: lõvi (et)
Etruscan: 𐌋𐌄𐌖 (leu)
Ewe: dzata n
Faroese: leyva f, ljón n, løva f
Finnish: leijona (fi)
French: lion (fr) m, lionne (fr) f
Galician: león (gl) m
Georgian: ლომი (lomi)
German: Löwe (de) m, Leu (de) m (poetic), Löwchen n (diminutive, also dog breed), Löwlein n (diminutive), Löwin (de) f (female)
Middle High German: lewe m, lebe m, löuwe m, leu m (poetic), lewinne f, löuwinne f, leuinne f, lewelîn n (diminutive), löuwelîn n (diminutive)
Old High German: lewo m, leo m
Gondi: చిహొ (ciho)
Gothic: 𐌻𐌰𐌹𐍅𐌰 m (laiwa)
Greek: λιοντάρι (el) n (liontári)
Ancient: λέων m (léōn)
Greenlandic: løveq (kl)
Gujarati: સિંહ m (sĩh)
Gwere: mpologoma
Hadza: seseme
Haitian Creole: lyon
Hausa: zaki
Hawaiian: liona
Hebrew: אַרְיֵה (he) m (aryé), ארי (he) m (ari), לביא (he) m (lavi), כפיר (he) m (kfir) (cub)
Hindi: सिंह (hi) m (sĩh), शेर (hi) m (śer), सिंघ (hi) m (siṅgh), बबर (hi) m (babar), बबर-शेर m (babar-śer), केहर (hi) m (kehar)
Hungarian: oroszlán (hu)
Icelandic: ljón (is) n
Ido: leono (io), leonulo (io) (male), leonino (io) (female)
Igbo: ọdụm
Indonesian: singa (id)
Ingrian: leva
Ingush: лом (lom)
Interlingua: leon
Irish: leon (ga) m
Italian: leone (it) m
Japanese: ライオン (ja) (raion), 獅子 (ja) (しし, shishi)
Javanese: singa (jv)
Jingpho: hkanghkyi
Kabyle: izem m
Kakabe: píyon
Kalmyk: арслң (arslñ)
Kannada: ಸಿಂಹ (kn) (siṃha)
Kaonde: bokwe
Kapampangan: leon
Kashmiri: پادَر سٕہہ (pādar sụh), شیرِ بَبَر (śēri babar)
Kazakh: арыстан (arystan)
Khmer: សឹង្ហ (səng), តោ (km) (tao), សីហៈ (km) (səyhaʼ)
Khoekhoe: xammi m
Kikuyu: mũrũthi
Kimbundu: hoji
Kituba: nkosi
Komo: dob
Korean: 사자(獅子) (ko) (saja)
Kumyk: арслан (arslan)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: شێر (ckb) (şêr)
Laki: شێر (ku) (şêr)
Northern Kurdish: şêr (ku)
Southern Kurdish: شێر (ku) (şêr)
Kwama: tishal
Kyrgyz: арстан (ky) (arstan)
Lao: ສິງ (lo) (sing), ສິງໂຕ (sing tō)
Latgalian: ļovs m
Latin: leō (la) m
Latvian: lauva (lv) m or f
Lezgi: аслан (aslan)
Ligurian: lión
Limburgish: lieëf (li)
Lithuanian: liūtas (lt) m
Livonian: louv
Low German:
German Low German: Lööv m, Leuv m
Lydian: 𐤥𐤠𐤩𐤥𐤤 (walwe)
Lü: ᦉᦲᧂ (ṡiing), ᦉᦲᧂᦷᦑ (ṡiingto)
Luwian: 𒌨𒈤 (walwa)
Luxembourgish: Léiw (lb) m
Maasai: ol-ngatuny
Macanese: leám
Macedonian: лав (mk) m (lav)
Malagasy: liona (mg)
Malay: singa (ms), asad
Malayalam: സിംഹം (ml) (siṁhaṁ)
Maltese: ljun m, dorbies m
Manchu: ᠠᡵᠰᠠᠯᠠᠨ (arsalan), ᡝᡵᠰᡝᠯᡝᠨ (erselen)
Mandinka: jatoo
Maori: raiona (mi)
Marathi: सिंह (mr) m (siuha)
Masalit: amara
Mauritian Creole: lyon
Middle English: lyoun
Minangkabau: singo (min)
Mingrelian: ნჯილო (nǯilo)
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: арслан (mn) (arslan)
Mongolian: ᠠᠷᠰᠯᠠᠩ (arslang)
Mori Bawah: singa
Nahuatl: cuāmiztli
Navajo: náshdóítsoh bitsiijįʼ daditłʼooígíí
Neapolitan: lione m
Nepali: सिंह (ne) (siṅha)
Nivkh: эдр ӈа (edr ŋa), эдр (edr), ат (at)
Nobiin: كو (ko)
Nogai: арыслан (arıslan)
Norman: lioun (France), lion (Jersey), lliaon (Guernsey), lyõ (Sark)
North Frisian: lau
Northern East Cree: ᒥᔑᐱᔑᐤ (mishipishiw)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: løve (no) m or f, løvinne (no) m or f (female)
Nynorsk: løve f, løvinne f (female)
Nuer: lony
Occitan: leon (oc) m
Odia: ସିଂହ (or) (siṁha)
Old Church Slavonic:
Cyrillic: львъ m (lĭvŭ)
Old English: lēo f or m
Old Javanese: singha
Old Prussian: laūws
Ossetian: цомахъ (comaq), лев (lev), домбай (dombaj)
Ottoman Turkish: آرسلان (arslan), اسد (esed), غضنفر (gazanfer), شیر (şîr)
Pali: sīha m
Pannonian Rusyn: лєв m (ljev)
Papiamentu: leon
Pashto: زمری (ps) m (zmaráy), مزری m (mazráy), غضنفر m (ǧazanfár)
Persian:
Dari: شیر (fa) (šēr)
Iranian Persian: شیر (fa) (šir)
Piedmontese: leon m
Plautdietsch: Leiw m
Polish: lew (pl) m
Portuguese: leão (pt) m
Punjabi:
Gurmukhi: ਸ਼ੇਰ (pa) m (śer), ਸਿੰਘ m (siṅgh)
Romagnol: liôn m
Romani: arasláno m, levo
Romanian: leu (ro) m
Romansch: liun m
Russian: лев (ru) m (lev), льви́ца (ru) f (lʹvíca) (female)
Saho: lubak
Samoan: leona
Sangisari: شیر (šir)
Sanskrit: केसरी (sa) m (kesarī), सिंह (sa) m (siṃha), हरि (sa) m (hari)
Sardinian: leòne m, leone, leoni, lioni
Scottish Gaelic: leòmhann m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ла̏в m
Roman: lȁv m
Shan: သၢင်ႇသီႈ (shn) (sàang sīi)
Shona: shumba
Sicilian: liuni (scn)
Sindhi: شِینھُن m (šī̃hun), شِینھِڻ f (šī̃hiṇ)
Sinhalese: සිංහයා (si) (siṁhayā)
Slovak: lev m
Slovene: lev (sl) m
Somali: libaax
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: law m
Upper Sorbian: law m
Sotho: tau (st)
Spanish: león (es) m
Sranan Tongo: lew
Sumerian: 𒊊 (pirig̃), 𒌨𒈤 (urmaḫ)
Sundanese: singa jalu
Swahili: simba (sw)
Swedish: lejon (sv) n
Tabasaran: аслан (aslan)
Tagalog: leon
Tajik: шер (tg) (šer)
Tamil: சிங்கம் (ta) (ciṅkam), அரிமா (ta) (arimā)
Tarifit: ayrad m, izm m
Tatar: арыслан (tt) (arıslan)
Telugu: సింహము (te) (siṁhamu), హరి (te) (hari)
Thai: สิงโต (th) (sǐng-dtoo), ราชสีห์ (râat-chá-sǐi), สีห์ (th) (sǐi)
Tibetan: སེང་གེ (seng ge)
Tigrinya: ኣንበሳ (ʾanbäsa)
Tocharian B: ṣecake
Tooro: entale class 9
Tswana: tau class 9/10
Tumbuka: nkhalamu
Turkana: engatuny
Turkish: aslan (tr)
Turkmen: arslan (tk), şir, ýolbars
Udmurt: арыслан (aryslan), лев (ľev)
Ugaritic: 𐎍𐎁𐎜 (lbủ), 𐎀𐎗𐎆 (ảrw)
Ukrainian: лев (uk) m (lev)
Umbundu: hosi
Unami: winkeòhkwèt
Urdu: شیر (ur) m (śer), سِن٘گھ m (siṅgh), سِن٘ہ m (sĩh)
Uyghur: ئارسلان (arslan), شىر (shir)
Uzbek: sher (uz), arslon (uz)
Venetan: leon m, lion (vec) m
Vietnamese: sư tử (vi) (獅子)
Volapük: leon (vo)
Welsh: llew (cy)
West Frisian: liuw (fy) c
Western Panjabi: سنگھ (pnb) m (singh)
Wolof: gaynde gi (wo)
Xhosa: ingonyama
Yagnobi: please add this translation if you can
Yakut: хахай (qaqay)
Yanda Dogon: dùŋyàrà
Yiddish: לייב m (leyb)
Yoruba: kìnìún
Zazaki: şêr (diq)
Zhuang: saeceij
Zulu: ibhubesi (zu) class 5/6, imbube class 9/10, ingonyama class 9/10
ǃXóõ: ǀá̰i :

### Adjective

lion (not comparable)
* Of the light brown color that resembles the fur of a lion.

### See also

* lion on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
* Panthera leo on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
* Category:lion on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons
* Appendix:Animals
* Appendix:English collective nouns

### Anagrams

* LINO, Nilo-, Olin, lino, loin, noil

## French
### Etymology

Inherited from Old French lion, a semi-learned borrowing from Latin leōnem, from Ancient Greek λέων (léōn).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ljɔ̃/, (Quebec, regionally in Europe) /li.ɔ̃/
** Audio (France, standard):(file)
** Audio (Quebec):(file)
** Audio (Lyon):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɔ̃
* Homophones: lions, Lyon

### Noun

lion m (plural lions, feminine lionne)
* (zoology) lion
** (specifically) male lion
* (figuratively) lion (brave person)
    se défendre comme un lion ― to defend oneself with great courage
* (heraldry) lion
* (figuratively, dated) lion (celebrity; famous person)
* (dated) a style of elegant young man that came after the dandy

#### Derived terms

* avoir mangé du lion
* golfe du Lion
* lion des montagnes
* lionne (“lioness”)
* lionceau (“lion cub”)
* part du lion

#### Descendants

* Haitian Creole: lyon
* Mauritian Creole: lyon
* Seychellois Creole: lyon

### Further reading

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

### Anagrams

* loin

## Kabuverdianu
### Etymology

From Portuguese leão.

### Noun

lion
* lion

## Krio
### Etymology

From English leone.

### Noun

lion
* leone (currency of Sierra Leone)

## Middle English
### Noun

lion
* Alternative form of lyoun

## Old French
### Alternative forms

* leon, leun, liun, lÿon

### Etymology

Semi-learned borrowing from Latin leō, leōnem, derived from Ancient Greek λέων (léōn).

### Noun

lion oblique singular, m (oblique plural lions, nominative singular lions, nominative plural lion)
* lion (animal)

#### Descendants

* Middle French: lyon
** French: lion
*** Haitian Creole: lyon
*** Mauritian Creole: lyon
*** Seychellois Creole: lyon
* Norman: lioun, lion, lliaon, lyõ
* Picard: lion
* → Breton: leon
* → Middle English: lyoun, lion, leon, lioun, lyon, liun, lyoone, leun, lyoon, lyown, lyun, leoun, lyone
** English: lion (see there for further descendants)
** Scots: lion
** Yola: leeoon, leioon

## Piedmontese
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /liˈuŋ/

### Noun

lion m
* lion (animal)
    Synonym: leon