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

• Audio (Classical)

  (file)

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, alacer, pernīx

      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
   3. (rare) mild, gentle, pleasant

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

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

 

Descendants

• Balkan Romance:
  • Proto-Romanian: *lieu
    • ⇒ Aromanian: lishor
    • ⇒ Romanian: ușor
• Italo-Romance:
  • Italian: lieve
• Padanian:
  • Romansch: lev
• Southern Gallo-Romance:
  • Catalan: lleu
  • Old Occitan: leu
    • Occitan: lèu
    • → Portuguese: léu
• Northern Gallo-Romance:
  • Old French: lief
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Mozarabic: ليُ‎ (lew)
  • Old Spanish: lieve, lief (apocopic variant)
    • Spanish: leve (possibly learnèd)
  • Portuguese: leve
• 'Vulgar' derived forms: (see there for further descendants)
  • ⇒ *leviānus
  • ⇒ *levius

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

• Audio (Classical)

  (file)

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

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

• 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^[1], 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)