▪ I. leman arch.
(ˈlɛmən, ˈliːmən)
Forms: 3 lef-, leof-, leove-, levemon, 3–7 lemman, -on, 3–4 lefman (pl. -men), 4–5 lemmone, 4–8 lemmane, 5 lemanne, lemone, lemmande, limman, 5–6 lemane, 5–7 lemon, 6 leymon, lemonde, lefe man (pl. -men), Sc. lamen, 7 leyman, leiman, leaman, lemain, 3– leman.
[Early ME. leofmon, f. leof lief, dear + man.]
1. A person beloved by one of the opposite sex; a lover or sweetheart; † occas. a husband or wife.
| c 1205 Lay. 18611 To Tintaieol he sende his leofmon [c 1275 wif] þa wes hende. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 782 Ðo sente he after abram, And bi-taȝte he him is leman. a 1300 Floriz & Bl. 53 Þo floriz iherde his lemman nempne. a 1300 Cursor M. 4345 ‘Ioseph,’ sco said, ‘to þe lemman, Hendest of all i mak mi man.’ c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxiv. (Alexis) 494 My blyse, my beld, my lef-man dere. c 1386 Chaucer Reeve's T. 320 Now deere lemman quod she go fareweel. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. clxxxviii. 166 Maydens of englond sare may ye morne for tyȝt haue ye lost your lemmans at bannokesborne. 1513 Douglas æneis xii. Prol. 198 Ane sang, The schip salis ouer the salt fame, Wil bring thir merchandis and my lemane hame. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. (1858) I. 106 And ilk ȝoung man in courtlie caroling With his lamen thairfoir to dance and sing. 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. viii. 40 He..offred kingdoms unto her in vew, To be his Leman and his Lady trew. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. ii. iii. 26, I sent thee sixe pence for thy Lemon, hadst it? 1725 Song, ‘The Cock-laird’ i, Thou'-se be my ain lemmane Jo, Jennie, quo' he. 1739 W. Melmoth Fitzosb. Lett. (1763) 291 The tender parley which these lemans held. |
† b. Often used, in religious or devotional language, of Christ, the Virgin, etc. Obs.
| a 1225 Juliana 17 Mi luue..towart te liuiende godd mi leofsume leofmon. c 1230 Hali Meid. 5 Godes spuse, Jeshu cristes brude, þe lauerdes leofmon. a 1300 Cursor M. 10664 To godd þan haue i giuen me..O þair husband mai i haf nan, Of him haf i made mi leman. Ibid. 20517 Cums wit me to mi lemman, Mi moder es scho, hir sun i am. a 1310 in Wright Lyric P. 69 Ihesu, mi lemman. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 805 In Iherusalem was my lemman slayn. c 1460 Towneley Myst. x. 65 Hayls that madyn, my lemman, As heyndly as thou can. Ibid. xxviii. 337 Mercy, ihesu, rew thi leman, mans saull, thou bought full soure. |
2. In bad sense (cf. paramour): One who is loved unlawfully; an unlawful lover or mistress. In later archaistic use chiefly applied to the female sex.
| c 1275 Lay. 6356 Þeos Damus..hadde a lemman hende [c 1205 ane chiuese]. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 7069 He..huld ire as is lefmon, as wo seiþ in hordum. Ibid. 10206 Alle clerkene lefmen in prisoun the king brouȝte. c 1340 Cursor M. 8887 (Trin.) Quenes had he hundrides seuen, þre hundride lemmons [Cotton concubins]. c 1386 Chaucer Manciple's T. 100 His wyf anon hath for hir lemman sent Hir lemman? certes this is a knauyssh speche. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. iv. 188 And prestes hue menteyneþ To holde lemmanes and lotebyes al here lif-dayes. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 10 On a derke night, as she yede towardes her lemman to foly. c 1470 Henry Wallace v. 693 With my gud will I wyll no lemman be To no man born. 1515 Nottingham Rec. III. 343 We present Wyllyam Perkynsun and hys leymon for bawdre. 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. 28 b, They founde greater gaines by priestes lemmans then they were like to haue by priestes wives. 1598 R. Grenewey Tacitus' Ann. iv. i. (1622) 90 He [Sejanus] putteth away Apicata his wife..lest his lemmon should haue her in iealousie. 1650 Bulwer Anthropomet. 237 It is a bravery much used to their Wives and Lemons. 1671 H. M. tr. Erasm. Colloq. 22 It may be his wife ith' mean time had got her self another Lemon and therefore she acknowledged not her husband. 1794 T. J. Mathias Purs. Lit. 187 And Rochester's address to lemans loose. 1812 Byron Ch. Har. i. ix, Yea! none did love him—not his lemans dear. 1833 H. Coleridge Poems I. 50 Hope Love's leman is, Despair his wife. 1871 Dixon Tower IV. v. 45 A lover whom his lemans dupe and cheat. |
Hence ˈlemanless a., without a leman. ˈlemanry (in 6 Sc. lamenry, -ie), illicit love.
| 1483 Cath. Angl. 213 A Lemanry, concubitus, concubinatus. 1560 Rolland Crt. Venus iii. 481 Gif siclik lufe cummis of ȝour Lamenrie. 15.. Priests of Peblis (1603) C 4 b, He beddit nocht richt oft, nor lay hir by, Bot throw lichtnes did lig in Lamenry. a 1755 Edom of Gordon xxviii. in Child Ballads III. 434 And mony were the fair ladys Lay lemanles at heme. a 1828 Twa Knights iv. ibid. V. 25 Lay never your love on lemanry. a 1830 Lady Margery xxiii. ibid. III. 119/2 I'll make many lady lemanless. |
▪ II. leman
obs. form of lemon n.1