Unnumbered source etymology
Original entry ↗noun
Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventoryOne beloved; a lover, a sweetheart of either sex (especially a secret lover; a gallant or mistress). · A paramour.
From Middle English lemman, variant of leofman, from Old English *lēofmann ("lover; sweetheart"; attested as a personal name), equivalent to lief + man ("beloved person"). In the past, incorrectly asserted to derive from French l'aimant (“the [male] lover”).
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
Inspect preserved source fields
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{
"templates": [
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "lemman"
},
"expansion": "Middle English lemman"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "*lēofmann"
},
"expansion": "Old English *lēofmann"
},
{
"name": "gloss",
"args": {
"1": "\"lover; sweetheart\"; attested as a personal name"
},
"expansion": "(\"lover; sweetheart\"; attested as a personal name)"
},
{
"name": "com",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "lief",
"3": "man",
"nocat": "1"
},
"expansion": "lief + man"
},
{
"name": "gloss",
"args": {
"1": "\"beloved person\""
},
"expansion": "(\"beloved person\")"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "fr",
"3": "aimant",
"4": "l'aimant",
"t": "the [male] lover"
},
"expansion": "French l'aimant (“the [male] lover”)"
}
],
"links": [
[
"lemman",
"lemman#Middle_English"
],
[
"leofman",
"leofman#Middle_English"
],
[
"*lēofmann",
"Reconstruction:Old English/leofmann"
],
[
"lief",
"lief#English"
],
[
"man",
"man#English"
],
[
"l'aimant",
"aimant#French"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"One beloved; a lover, a sweetheart of either sex (especially a secret lover; a gallant or mistress).",
"A paramour."
],
"tags": [
"archaic",
"often",
"pejorative"
],
"recordId": "d0d0513c67efa23f59cb318852f9c1f47e15d2f297095917403e38199ab06463",
"rawRecordSha256": "4ef227fb1f885bed83453aa53fb9af2f1ca0bdcd939dd2a558b289254ebcba25",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 766196
}
],
"omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
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"references": 0,
"descendants": 0,
"lexicalRecords": 0,
"lexicalSenses": 0,
"glosses": 0
}
}