Part 646

{ Leis"ter, Lis"ter } (ls"tr), n. A spear armed with three or more prongs, for striking fish. [Scotland]

Lei"sur*a*ble (l"zhr**b'l; 135), a. [See Leisure.]

1. Leisurely. [Obs.] Hooker.

2. Vacant of employment; not occupied; idle; leisure; as leisurable hours. [Obs.] Sir T. Browne.

Lei"sur*a*bly, adv. At leisure. [Obs.]

Lei"sure (l"zhr; 135), n. [OE. leisere, leiser, OF. leisir, F. loisir, orig., permission, fr. L. licere to be permitted. See License.] 1. Freedom from occupation or business; vacant time; time free from employment.

The desire of leisure is much more natural than of business and care.

Sir W. Temple.

2. Time at one's command, free from engagement; convenient opportunity; hence, convenience; ease.

He sighed, and had no leisure more to say.

Dryden.

At leisure. (a) Free from occupation; not busy. (b) In a leisurely manner; at a convenient time.

Lei"sure, a. Unemployed; as, leisure hours.

Lei"sured (l"zhrd), a. Having leisure. "The leisured classes." Gladstone.

Lei"sure*ly (l"zhr*l), a. Characterized by leisure; taking abundant time; not hurried; as, a leisurely manner; a leisurely walk.

Lei"sure*ly, adv. In a leisurely manner. Addison.

||Leit"mo*tif" (lt"m*tf"), n. [G.] (Mus.) See Leading motive, under ||Leading, a. || Le"man (l"man or lm"an; 277), n. [OE. lemman, lefman; AS. leóf dear + mann man. See Lief, and Man.] A sweetheart, of either sex; a gallant, or a mistress; -- usually in a bad sense. [Archaic] Chaucer. Spenser. Shak.

Leme (lm), n. [OE. leem, leme, leam, AS. leóma light, brightness; akin to E. light, n. √122.] A ray or glimmer of light; a gleam. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Leme, v. i. To shine. [Obs.] Piers Plowman.

Lem"ma (lm"m), n.; pl. L. Lemmata (-m*t), E. Lemmas (-mz). [L. lemma, Gr. lh^mma anything received, an assumption or premise taken for granted, fr. lamba`nein to take, assume. Cf. Syllable.] A preliminary or auxiliary proposition demonstrated or accepted for immediate use in the demonstration of some other proposition, as in mathematics or logic.

Lem"man (lm"man), n. A leman. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Lem"ming (lm"mng), n. [Nor. lemming, lemende; cf. Sw. lemel, Lapp. lummik.] (Zoöl.) Any one of several species of small arctic rodents of the genera Myodes and Cuniculus, resembling the meadow mice in form. They are found in both hemispheres.

The common Northern European lemming (Myodes lemmus) is remarkable for making occasional devastating migrations in enormous numbers from the mountains into the lowlands.

Lem"ni*an (lm"n*an), a. [L. Lemnius, fr. Lemnus, Gr. Lh^mnos.] Of or pertaining to the isle of Lemnos.

Lemnian bole, Lemnian earth, an aluminous earth of a grayish yellow color; sphragide; -- formerly sold as medicine, having astringent properties. -- Lemnian reddle, a reddle of firm consistence and deep red color; -- used by artificers in coloring.

{ Lem`nis*ca"ta (lm`ns*k"t), Lem*nis"cate (lm*ns"kt), } n. [L. lemniscatus adorned with ribbons, fr. lemniscus a ribbon hanging down, Gr. lhmni`skos.] (Geom.) A curve in the form of the figure 8, with both parts symmetrical, generated by the point in which a tangent to an equilateral hyperbola meets the perpendicular on it drawn from the center.

||Lem*nis"cus (lm*ns"ks), n.; pl. Lemnisci (- s). [L. See Lemniscata.] ||(Zoöl.) One of two oval bodies hanging from the interior walls of the ||body in the Acanthocephala. || Lem"on (lm"n), n. [F. limon, Per. lmn; cf. Ar. laimn, Sp. limon, It. limone. Cf. Lime a fruit.]

1. (Bot.) An oval or roundish fruit resembling the orange, and containing a pulp usually intensely acid. It is produced by a tropical tree of the genus Citrus, the common fruit known in commerce being that of the species C. Limonum or C. Medica (var. Limonum). There are many varieties of the fruit, some of which are sweet.