leon

See also: Leon, león, and leõn

Breton

Etymology

From Latin leo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlewn/

Noun

leon m (plural leoned)

1. lion

Interlingua

Etymology

Latin leo

Noun

leon (plural leones)

1. lion
2. Leo

Irish

Pronunciation

• (Munster, Ulster) IPA^(key): /lʲoːn̪ˠ/
• (Connacht) IPA^(key): /l̠ʲuːnˠ/

Etymology 1

Irish Wikipedia has an article on:

leon

Wikipedia ^ga

From Old Irish léoman, léo, from Latin leō.

Alternative forms

• leomhan

Noun

leon m (genitive singular leoin, nominative plural leoin)

1. lion

Declension

Declension of leon (first declension)

bare forms singular plural nominative leon leoin vocative a leoin a leona genitive leoin leon dative leon leoin forms with the definite article singular plural nominative an leon na leoin genitive an leoin na leon dative leis an leon don leon leis na leoin

Derived terms

• An Leon (“Leo”)

Etymology 2

From Old Irish leónaid, a late form of lénaid (“impairs, injures, wounds”), from lén (“defeat, hurt, injury, misfortune, sorrow”).

Verb

leon (present analytic leonann, future analytic leonfaidh, verbal noun leonadh, past participle leonta)

1. (transitive) sprain
2. (transitive) injure, wound

Conjugation

Conjugation of leon (first conjugation – A)

verbal noun	leonadh
past participle	leonta
tense	singular			plural			relative	autonomous
	first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative
present	leonaim	leonann tú; leonair†	leonann sé, sí	leonaimid	leonann sibh	leonann siad; leonaid†	a leonann; a leonas	leontar
past	leon mé; leonas	leon tú; leonais	leon sé, sí	leonamar; leon muid	leon sibh; leonabhair	leon siad; leonadar	a leon / ar leon*	leonadh
past habitual	leonainn	leontá	leonadh sé, sí	leonaimis; leonadh muid	leonadh sibh	leonaidís; leonadh siad	a leonadh / a leonadh*	leontaí
future	leonfaidh mé; leonfad	leonfaidh tú; leonfair†	leonfaidh sé, sí	leonfaimid; leonfaidh muid	leonfaidh sibh	leonfaidh siad; leonfaid†	a leonfaidh; a leonfas	leonfar
conditional	leonfainn	leonfá	leonfadh sé, sí	leonfaimis; leonfadh muid	leonfadh sibh	leonfaidís; leonfadh siad	a leonfadh / a leonfadh*	leonfaí
subjunctive
present	go leona mé; go leonad†	go leona tú; go leonair†	go leona sé, sí	go leonaimid; go leona muid	go leona sibh	go leona siad; go leonaid†	—	go leontar
past	dá leonainn	dá leontá	dá leonadh sé, sí	dá leonaimis; dá leonadh muid	dá leonadh sibh	dá leonaidís; dá leonadh siad	—	dá leontaí
imperative
–	leonaim	leon	leonadh sé, sí	leonaimis	leonaigí; leonaidh†	leonaidís	—	leontar

* indirect relative
† archaic or dialect form

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “leon”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “lénaid”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “léo”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Quiggin, E. C. (1906), A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, page 84

Lombard

Etymology

From Latin leō, leōnis.

Pronunciation

• (Western) IPA^(key): /leˈun/
  • (Ticinese) IPA^(key): /liˈom/
• (Eastern) IPA^(key): /leˈu/, /liˈu/

Noun

leon (plural leon)

1. lion

Middle English

Noun

leon

1. alternative form of lyoun

Occitan

Etymology

From Latin leō, leōnis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /leˈu/

• Audio (Béarn):

  (file)

Noun

leon m (plural leons)

1. lion

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *līhwaną. Cognate with Old High German lihan (German leihen).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /le͜oːn/

Verb

lēon

1. to lend, loan

Conjugation

Conjugation of lēon (strong, class I)

infinitive	lēon	lēonne
indicative mood	present tense	past tense
first person singular	lēo	lāh
second person singular	līehst	lige
third person singular	līehþ	lāh
plural	lēoþ	ligon
subjunctive	present tense	past tense
singular	lēo	lige
plural	lēon	ligen
imperative
singular	lēoh
plural	lēoþ
participle	present	past
	lēonde	(ġe)liġen

Old French

Noun

leon oblique singular, m (oblique plural leons, nominative singular leons, nominative plural leon)

1. alternative form of lion
   • c. 1170, Christian of Troyes, Yvain ou le Chevalier au lion:

     Et li leons, qui che esgarde,
     De li aidier plus ne se tarde[.]

     And the lion who was watching
     Did not wait any longer to help him.

Old Galician-Portuguese

Alternative forms

• leam, leõ, leom, liam, liõ, liom, lleam, lleom, lyã, lyam, lyom, lyon

Etymology

Inherited from Latin leō, borrowed from Ancient Greek λέων (léōn). Cognate with Old French lion and Old Spanish leon.

Pronunciation

• Homophone: Leon

Noun

leon m (plural leões, feminine leõa, feminine plural *leõas)

1. lion
   • 1373 January 20, Fernán Martís, “Cõmo outs çem naues tomarõ porto [How other one hundred ships took the port]” (chapter 116), in Cronica Troiana [Trojan Chronicle], Kingdom of Galicia, translation of Roman de Troie by Benoît de Sainte-Maure (in Old French), →OCLC, manuscript MSS/10233, pages 39v–40r:

     ⁊ el rreŷ ptenoꝛ outºſſŷ q̃ era moŷ bon caualro ⁊ brauo / ⁊ ardido cõmo hũ leõ.

     And King Prothoenor, as well, who was a very good horseman and brave and bold as a lion.

Descendants

• Fala: león
• Galician: león
• Portuguese: leão
  • Kabuverdianu: lion
  • Macanese: leám
  • Papiamentu: leon
  • → Tetum: leaun

References

• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “leon”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “leon”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Ferreiro, Manuel (2014–2025), “leon”, in Universo Cantigas: edición crítica da poesía medieval galego-portuguesa [Universo Cantigas: critical edition of Galician-Portuguese medieval poetry] (in Galician), A Coruña: University of A Coruña, →ISSN
• Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2020–2025), “leão”, in Vocabulário histórico-cronológico do português medieval [Historical and chronological vocabulary of Medieval Portuguese] (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Fundação Casa de Rui Barbosa

Old Spanish

Etymology

From Latin leōnem, singular accusative of leō, from Ancient Greek λέων (léōn).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /leˈon/

Noun

leon m (plural leones, feminine singular leona, feminine plural leonas)

1. lion
   • c. 1200, Almerich, Fazienda de Ultramar, 25r:

     […] cõ leõ ſe leuantara e con leona ſe alcara nos echara faſta q̃ coma. rabadura e ſangre de matados breura.

     “ […] Like a lion it shall rise up and like a lioness it shall lift itself up. It shall not lie down until it eats prey, and the blood of those slain it shall drink.”

   • c. 1250, Alfonso X, Lapidario, f. 6v:

     Et por ende a tal p̃priedat eſta piedra q̃ el q̃ la trae obedecẽ le los leones aſſi q̃ los puede tomar a manos ⁊ nol farã mal por q̃ el leõ q̃ndo la uee pierde toda la fuerça ⁊ nõ a en ſi poder.

     And such is the property of this stone that lions will obey he who bears it, so that he can touch them with his hands and they will not harm him, for when he sees it the lion loses all its strength and has in him no power.

Related terms

• Leon

Descendants

• Spanish: león
  • → Bikol Central: leon, leyon
  • → Kapampangan: leon
  • → Papiamentu: leon
  • → Paraguayan Guarani: leõ
  • → Quechua: liyun
  • → Tagalog: leon

Old Swedish

Alternative forms

• leiōn, leyan

Etymology

From Old Norse león, from Latin leō, (genitive: leōnis), from Ancient Greek λέων (léōn), likely a borrowing from a Semitic language. Compare Proto-Semitic *labiʾ-.

Noun

leon m

1. lion

Declension

Declension of leōn (strong a-stem)

masculine	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	leōn	leōnrin	leōnar	leōnanir, leōnaner
accusative	leōn	leōnin	leōna	leōnana
dative	leōni, leōne	leōninum, leōnenom	leōnum, leōnom	leōnumin, leōnomen
genitive	leōns	leōnsins	leōna	leōnanna

Descendants

• Swedish: lejon

Papiamentu

Etymology

From Spanish león and Kabuverdianu lion.

Noun

leon

1. lion

Piedmontese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /leˈuŋ/

Noun

leon m

1. lion

   Synonym: lion

Tagalog

Alternative forms

• liyon
• leyon

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish león, from Latin leōnem, from Ancient Greek λέων (léōn), of Semitic origin. Doublet of Leo.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /leˈon/ [lɛˈon̪]
• Rhymes: -on
• Syllabification: le‧on

Noun

león (Baybayin spelling ᜎᜒᜌᜓᜈ᜔)

1. lion

   Synonym: (archaic) halimaw

Related terms

• kamaleon
• leona
• leonino

References

• “leon”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018.

Venetan

Etymology

From Latin leō, leōnem (compare Italian leone).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /leˈoŋ/

Noun

leon m (plural leoni or leuni)

1. lion

Volapük

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [le.ˈon]

Noun

leon (nominative plural leons)

1. lion

Declension

Declension of leon

	singular	plural
nominative	leon	leons
genitive	leona	leonas
dative	leone	leones
accusative	leoni	leonis
vocative 1	o leon!	o leons!
predicative 2	leonu	leonus

¹ status as a case is disputed
² in later, non-classical Volapük only

Hyponyms

• hileon (“lion (male)”)
• jileon (“lioness, lion (female)”)
• leonil (“small lion”)
• leonül (“lion cub”)

Derived terms

• leonik (“leonine”)
• sileon (“Leo (constellation)”)