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35,981 English word records · 45,491 etymology sections in this online subset
PARTIAL ENGLISH COVERAGE · FULL CORPUS REMAINS LOCAL4 source sections across 2 headwords matching “Lean”. These are separate from the reviewed results below.
LeanEnglish (en) · Unnumbered etymologySource text
* As a Scottish Gaelic surname, reduced form of McLean. * As an English surname, from the adjective lean. * As a Chinese surname, from 林 (lín) (see Lin).
Original Wiktionary entry and references ↗leanEnglish (en) · Etymology 1Source text
From Middle English lenen (“to lean”), from Old English hleonian, hlinian (“to lean, recline, lie down, rest”), from Proto-West Germanic *hlinēn, from Proto-Germanic *hlināną (“to lean, incline”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱley-. Cognate via Proto-Germanic with Middle Dutch leunen (“to lean”), German lehnen (“to lean”); via Proto-Indo-European with climate, cline.
Original Wiktionary entry and references ↗leanEnglish (en) · Etymology 2Source text
From Middle English lene (“lean”), from Old English hlǣne (“lean”), (cognate with Low German leen), perhaps from hlǣnan (“to cause to lean (due to hunger or lack of food)”), from Proto-Germanic *hlainijaną (“to cause to lean”). If so, then related to Old English hlinian, hleonian (“to lean”). Compare Old Norse linr (“mild; soft, limp; weak”), Old High German len (“mild”).
Original Wiktionary entry and references ↗leanEnglish (en) · Etymology 3Source text
Probably from the verb to lean (see Etymology 1 above), supposedly because consumption of the intoxicating beverage causes one to lean or sway. Alternatively, from a clipping of gasoline (“an alcoholic beverage made of vodka and energy drink”).
Original Wiktionary entry and references ↗INDEPENDENT SOURCE LIBRARY
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Mayhew–Skeat (1888)
1888; pinned HTML transcription updated October 28, 2024The query “lean” cannot be resolved without D1. No static search results are fabricated.
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