lyoun

Middle English

Alternative forms

• lion, leon, lioun, lyon, liun, lyoone, leun, lyoon, lyown, lyun, leoun, lyone

Etymology

From Old French leon, leun, liun, from Latin leōnem, accusative of leō, from Ancient Greek λέων (léōn).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /liːˈuːn/, /liˈuːn/, /lɛːˈuːn/, /lɛˈuːn/, /ˈliːun/, /ˈlɛːun/, /-oːn/

Noun

lyoun (plural lyouns)

1. lion (The felid Panthera leo)
   • c. 1395, John Wycliffe, John Purvey [et al.], transl., Bible (Wycliffite Bible (later version), MS Lich 10.)‎, published c. 1410, Apocalips 4:7, page 118v, column 2; republished as Wycliffe's translation of the New Testament, Lichfield: Bill Endres, 2010:

     ⁊ þe firſte beeſte .· liyk a lioun / ⁊ þe ſecounde beeſte .· lijk a calf / ⁊ þe þꝛidde beeſte .· hauynge a face as of a man / ⁊ þe fourþe beeſte .· liyk an egle fleynge

     And the first beast [was] like a lion; and the second beast [was] like a calf; and the third beast had a face like a human; and the fourth beast [was] like an eagle flying.

2. A depiction of a lion (as in heraldry).
3. Leo (the constellation or astrological sign)
4. (figurative) An unjust or ferocious individual.

Descendants

• English: lion (see there for further descendants)
• Scots: lion
• Yola: leeoon, leioon

References

• “līǒun, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 3 April 2018.