lion
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: lī'ən
ipa: /ˈlaɪən/
rhymes: -aɪən
Forms: form: lions
form: lion
form: lyon
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, from the same Latin source.
Senses: examples: text: Tigers and lions share a common ancestor from a few million years ago.
text: 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.
ref: 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 14, page 311:
text: Sinibaldus lists lion's fat as a popular medieval aphrodisiac treatment.
ref: 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 138:
glosses: A big cat, Panthera leo, native to Africa, India and formerly much of Europe.
glosses: A big cat, Panthera leo, native to Africa, India and formerly much of Europe.
A male lion, as opposed to a lioness, which is characterized by having a flowing shaggy mane and taking little part in hunting, which can be done cooperatively.
raw_tags: in particular
glosses: Any of various extant and extinct big cats, especially the mountain lion.
glosses: A Chinese foo dog.
examples: text: 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’.
ref: 2003, Peter Armstrong, Angus McBride, Stirling Bridge & Falkirk 1297–98: William Wallace's Rebellion:
glosses: A person who shows attributes associated with the lion, such as strength, courage, or ferocity.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1847 March 30, Herman Melville, Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas; […], London: John Murray, […], →OCLC:
text: Such society was far more enjoyable than that of Edinburgh, for here he was not a lion, but a man.
ref: 1844, John Wilson, Essay on the Genius, and Character of Burns:
text: The men were delighted to go, and became the lions of the following season in Adelaide.
ref: 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 84:
text: 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.
ref: 1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, “ch. 4”, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC:
text: Heated comments were exchanged, and, before anyone could say, "festival," the two lions of the folk power structure were rolling in the dirt.
ref: 1965 August, Mississippi Phil Ochs, “The Newport Fuzz Festival”, in The Realist, number 61, retrieved 13 Nov 2022, page 11:
text: So bring a basket for the lions / Of City of Industry
ref: 2014, Camper Van Beethoven, “City of Industry”, in El Camino Real, performed by Camper Van Beethoven:
glosses: A famous person regarded with interest and curiosity.
glosses: A light brown color that resembles the fur of a lion.
glosses: An old Scottish coin, with a lion on the obverse, worth 74 shillings.
Coordinate terms: sense: Panthera leo
word: cougar
sense: Panthera leo
word: leopard
sense: Panthera leo
word: panther
sense: Panthera leo
word: puma
sense: Panthera leo
word: tiger
sense: male lion individual
word: cub
sense: male lion individual
word: 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
demilion
Essex lion
foo lion
Galapagos sea lion
Galápagos sea lion
golden lion tamarin
guardian lion
jaglion
Japanese sea lion
leopon
liger
liliger
lion ant
lionburger
lion cub
lion cut
lion dance
lion diet
lion dog
lionesque
lioness
lionet
lionfish
lion fish
lionhead
lionhead cichlid
lionhead rabbit
lionheart
Lionheart
lionhearted
lion-hearted
lion-heartedly
lion-heartedness
lionhood
lion hunter
lion in the way
lionise
lionize
lionish
lionism
lionitis
lionkeeper
lionlike
lionling
lion lizard
lionly
lion mask
Lion of Judah
Lion of St Mark
Lion of Venice
lionproof
Lionrock
Lion Rock
lion's ear
lion's foot
Lion's Head
lionship
lionskin
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
merlion
mountain lion
Nemean lion
northern lion
Nubian lion
red lion
sea lion
sea-lion
she-lion
snow lion
South American sea lion
Steller sea lion
Steller's sea lion
steppe lion
stone lion
tigon
twist the lion's tail
werelion
white lion
wormlion
Related terms: Chameleon
leo
Leon
Leonids
leonine
Lion's club
Lion's sermon