levant
See also: Levant
English
WOTD – 8 August 2015
Etymology 1
Transferral use of Levant, from French levant. Compare French faire voile en Levant (“to sail eastward”), literally: set the sail with the Levant, an easterly wind that blows in the Mediterranean Sea.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /lɪˈvænt/
Audio (CA) (file)
Verb
levant (third-person singular simple present levants, present participle levanting, simple past and past participle levanted)
- To abscond or run away, especially to avoid paying money or debts.
- 1885, Sir Richard Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Night 16:
- In a mighty little time their husbands played them false and, taking whatever they could lay hands upon, levanted and left them in the lurch.
- 1922, James Joyce, Ulysses:
- He died of a Tuesday. Got the run. Levanted with the cash of a few ads.
- 1885, Sir Richard Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Night 16:
Translations
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈlɛvənt/
Adjective
levant (not comparable)
French
Etymology
Participle adjective of lever (“to raise”). Corresponds to Latin levāns, levāntem (“raising”), in reference to the rising of the sun; compare Italian levante.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /lə.vɑ̃/
Audio (Paris) (file)
Adjective
levant (feminine singular levante, masculine plural levants, feminine plural levantes)
- (of the moon, the sun, etc.) rising
Antonyms
Derived terms
Further reading
- “levant” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
Latin
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