lenis

Borrowed from Latin lēnis (“soft, smooth”).

• enPR: lē'nəs, lā'nəs, IPA^(key): /ˈliːnɪs/, /ˈlɛnɪs/

lenis (not comparable)

1. (phonetics) Weakly articulated (of a consonant), hence voiced; especially as compared to the others of a group of homorganic consonants.

   Synonym: lax

   Antonym: fortis

   • 2004, Stephan Gramley, Michael Pätzold, A Survey of Modern English, Routledge (→ISBN), page 80:

     All vowels, whether short or complex, are relatively shorter when followed by a fortis consonant and relatively longer when followed by a lenis one or, for those where this is possible, when no consonant follows (in free or unchecked syllables).

• lenition

• LINEs, Niles, elsin, liens, lines, lisne

From Proto-Indo-European *lh₁d-to.

Confer lentus. Cognate to Old Church Slavonic лѣнъ (lěnŭ, “lazy”), whence Russian ленивый (lenivyj, “lazy”), and to Lithuanian lė́nas (“slow, calm”).[1]

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈleː.nis/, [ˈɫeː.nɪs]

• Audio (Classical)

  (file)

lēnis (neuter lēne); third declension

1. soft, smooth, gentle
2. gradual
3. moderate, mild, calm

Third declension.

• comparative: lenior, superlative: lenissimus

• spīritus lēnis

• English: lenis, lenient
• Galician: lene, ao len
• Italian: lene
• Occitan: le
• Romanian: lin
• Spanish: lene

Inflected form of lēna (“madame, procuress”).

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈleː.niːs/, [ˈɫeː.niːs]

lēnīs

1. dative plural of lēna
2. ablative plural of lēna

• lenis in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• lenis in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• lenis in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• lenis in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• Carl Meissner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • (ambiguous) a gentle, subdued voice: vox lenis, suppressa, summissa