HomeServicesBlogDictionariesContactSpanish Course
← Back to search

Meaning of Leonine | Babel Free

Noun CEFR B1
ˈliːənaɪn

Definitions

  1. Alternative letter-case form of leonine (“a 13th-century coin minted in Europe and used in England as a debased form of the sterling silver penny”).
    alt-of
  2. Synonym of Leonine verse (“a kind of medieval Latin verse, generally alternative hexameter and pentameter, with rhyming at the middle and end of a line (that is, internal rhyme)”).
    in-plural
  3. A 13th-century coin minted in Europe and used in England as a debased form of the sterling silver penny; it was outlawed under Edward I (reigned 1272–1307).

Equivalents

العربية أسدي
Français Léonine léonine
Polski leonin

Examples

“A[llen]. The Clink of Syllables call'd Rymes, / Brought in ith' barb'rous Runick times, / To ſober Criticks ſeems to be / A paultry part of Poetry, / Becoming Monkiſh dull Divines, / VVho traded much in Leonines. / J[ohn]. Altho' to ſpoil I ſhould be ſorry, / An undergraduate Antiquary, / Yet I'll produce a Line or tvvo / Of Leonines in Cicero, / Before the Monks long time ago.”
“[F]rom the jingling of the Greek couplet juſt before, and ſimilar inſtances of his taſte, I am perſuaded Sir VVilliam intended theſe as Leonines perfect in their kind.”
“The manuscript of Trinity College, Cambridge, which we have already mentioned, was written at the beginning of the thirteenth century, and the proverbs which it contains are translations into Latin leonines of some of the more popular English, and, in one or two instances, Norman proverbs of that time.”
“In the eyghte and twentye yere of his raign in the Chriſtmaſſe ſeaſon Kyng Edwarde ſet foorth a proclamation, forbidding and prohibiting all foraine coine to bee receyued and payde as ſterling mony wythin his dominion, commaunding by the ſame proclamation, that two peeces of them ſhould go for one ſterlying, vntill the feaſt of Eaſtre. There were diuers moneyes in thoſe dayes currant wythin this realme, as Pollardes, Crocards, Staldinges, Egles, Leonines, Steepinges, and all theſe were white monyes, artificially made of ſiluer, copper, and ſulphur, ſo that it was an yll tyme for baſe moneyes, and muche choppyng and chaunging was vſed in buying and ſelling of thynges.”
“[I]n the raign of E[dward] I. there were divers white monies called Pollards, Crocards, Staldings, Eagles, Leonines, and Steepings artificially made of ſilver, copper, and ſulphur, and yet currant within the Realme; and for that two pieces of theſe monies were but of the value of one ſterling. King E. I. by his Proclamation utterly forbad the ſame.”
“[M]oſt deceits and corruptions are found in this reign [of Edward I of England], vvhen there vvas imported (beſides clipped ſterlings) a ſort of light money vvith a mitre, another with a lion, a third of copper blanched in imitation of the Engliſh money, a fourth like that of King Edvvard, and a fifth kind that vvas plated, and others, knovvn by the name of Pollards, Crokards, Mitres, Lionines, Staldings, Steepings, Eagles and Roſarys, vvhich vvere coined in parts beyond the ſeas, and privately brought into the kingdom, and uttered here for ſterling, though not vvorth above an halfpenny.”
“In the eyghte and twentye yere of his raign in the Chriſtmaſſe ſeaſon Kyng Edwarde ſet foorth a proclamation, forbidding and prohibiting all foraine coine to bee receyued and payde as ſterling mony wythin his dominion, commaunding by the ſame proclamation, that two peeces of them ſhould go for one ſterlying, vntill the feaſt of Eaſtre. There were diuers moneyes in thoſe dayes currant wythin this realme, as Pollardes, Crocards, Staldinges, Egles, Leonines, Steepinges, and all theſe were white monyes, artificially made of ſiluer, copper, and ſulphur, ſo that it was an yll tyme for baſe moneyes, and muche choppyng and chaunging was vſed in buying and ſelling of thynges.”
“[I]n the raign of E[dward] I. there were divers white monies called Pollards, Crocards, Staldings, Eagles, Leonines, and Steepings artificially made of ſilver, copper, and ſulphur, and yet currant within the Realme; and for that two pieces of theſe monies were but of the value of one ſterling. King E. I. by his Proclamation utterly forbad the ſame.”

CEFR level

B1
Intermediate
This word is part of the CEFR B1 vocabulary — intermediate level.
See all B1 English words →

See also

Learn this word in context

See Leonine used in real conversations inside our free language course.

Start Free Course

Know this word better than we do? Language is a living thing — help us keep it growing. Collaborate with Babel Free