lien

See also: Appendix:Variations of "lien"

English

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Middle French lien, from Latin ligāmen (“a bond”), from ligō (“tie, bind”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /liːn/, /ˈliːən/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːn, -iːən
• Homophone: lean (IPA^(key): /liːn/)

Noun

lien (plural liens)

1. (obsolete) A tendon.
2. (law) A right to take possession of a debtor’s property as security until a debt or duty is discharged.
   • 1989, Greil Marcus, Lipstick Traces, Faber & Faber, published 2009:

     […] every youth movement presents itself as loan to the future, and tries to call in its lien in advance, but when there is no future all loans are canceled.

   • 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 7:

     Bodin deemed the king of France's power as absolute in the sense that the ruler was ‘absolved’ by divine sanction from legally binding liens and restrictions.

Derived terms

• accountant's lien
• agricultural lien
• architect's lien
• attorney's lien
• banker's lien
• blanket lien
• lienable
• liened
• lienholder
• lienholding
• lienor
• liensman
• mechanic's lien
• vendor's lien

Translations

right to take and hold debtor’s property

Afrikaans: retensiereg Chinese: Mandarin: 留置權 / 留置权 (zh) (liúzhìquán) Czech: zadržovací právo n, retenční právo n Dutch: retentierecht n Finnish: panttioikeus, pidätysoikeus; kiinnitys (fi) French: droit de rétention m German: Zurückbehaltungsrecht n, Retentionsrecht n Hungarian: visszatartási jog Italian: diritto di retenzione m Japanese: 担保物権 (ja) (たんぽぶっけん, tanpo bukken) Maori: riena, riana, rīana Polish: prawo zatrzymania Portuguese: direito de retenção m Russian: зало́говое пра́во n (zalógovoje právo), зало́г (ru) m (zalóg) Serbo-Croatian: pravo zadržaja Slovak: záložné právo n Slovene: zastavna pravica f Spanish: derecho de retención m Welsh: hawlrwym m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Norwegian: (please verify) heftelse Swedish: (please verify) lån (sv)

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

• lyen

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlaɪən/
• Rhymes: -aɪən

Verb

lien

1. (biblical, archaic) Alternative form of lain.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 26:10:

     And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done vnto vs? one of the people might lightly haue lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest haue brought guiltinesse vpon vs.”

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Numbers 5:19:

     And the Priest shall charge her by an othe, and say vnto the woman, If no man haue lyen with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to vncleannesse with another in stead of thy husband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse.

Etymology 3

Borrowed from Latin liēn (“spleen”). Doublet of spleen.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlaɪ.in/, /ˈlaɪ.ən/
• Rhymes: -aɪin, -aɪən

Noun

lien (plural lienes)

2. (uncommon, possibly obsolete) The spleen.

   Synonym: milt

   • 1892, John Marie Keating, Henry Hamilton, John Chalmers Da Costa, A New Pronouncing Dictionary of Medicine:

     Li'enal. Pertaining to the lien or spleen; splenic.

   • 1914, Quain's Elements of Anatomy, volume 1, page 312:

     The lien or spleen (figs. 282 to 285) is a soft, highly vascular contractile and very elastic organ of a dark purplish colour. It is placed obliquely behind the stomach, [...]

Related terms

• lienal
• lienic
• lieno-

Further reading

• lien on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• LEIN, LINE, Line, Neil, Niel, Nile, line

Cornish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈliːɛn]

• Audio (Revived Middle Cornish):

  (file)

Etymology 1

From Middle Cornish lyen, from Proto-Brythonic *lleɣenn, from Latin legendum. Cognate with Welsh llên.

Noun

lien m (plural liennow)

1. literature

Etymology 2

Possibly from Latin līnum. Cognate with Welsh lliain.

Noun

lien m (plural lienyow)

1. linen cloth
2. kerchief

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French lien, from Old French lien, liem, from Latin ligāmen (“bond”), from ligō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ljɛ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

Noun

lien m (plural liens)

1. tie, bond
2. link

Derived terms

• lien mort

Related terms

• lier
• relier

Further reading

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

Indonesian

Indonesian Wikipedia has an article on:

lien

Wikipedia ^id

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin liēn.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈliɛn/ [ˈli.ɛn]
• Rhymes: -ɛn
• Syllabification: li‧en

Noun

lien (plural lien-lien)

1. (anatomy, technical) spleen

   Synonyms: kura, limpa

   Kista pada lien dibagi menjadi dua yaitu kista primer dan kista sekunder. ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   Pengukuran densitas lien dilakukan pada CT abdomen sebelum dan sesudah pemberian bahan kontras. ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Further reading

• “lien” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Verb

lien (third-person singular simple present lieth, present participle liende, first-/third-person singular past indicative legh, past participle louen)

1. to lie (tell a falsehood)

Alternative forms

• li, lie, lin, lighe, lighen, lige, ligen, liȝe, liȝen, liegh, lieȝe, lieȝen, le, lee, lei, leie, leghen, legen, leȝe, leȝen, leiȝe, leiȝen
• lih, lihe, lihen, leȝen, leoȝen, leioȝen, luȝen (Early Middle English)

Descendants

• English: lie
• Scots: lee
• Yola: liest (sg.2)