leven

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɛvən/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛvən

See eleven.

leven

1. Pronunciation spelling of eleven.

• 'leven, leben

See levin.

leven

1. (obsolete) Alternative spelling of levin (“lightning”).

See leaven

leven (third-person singular simple present levens, present participle levening, simple past and past participle levened)

1. Obsolete spelling of leaven.

• “leven”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

• Nevel, elven

Bislama cardinal numbers

<  10	11	12  >
Cardinal : leven

From English eleven.

leven

1. eleven

From leve +‎ -en.

leven c (indeclinable)

1. existence; life; way of life

• “leven” in Den Danske Ordbog

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

• IPA^(key): /leːˀvən/, [ˈleˀʋn̩], [ˈlewˀn̩]

leven c

1. definite singular of lev (“bread”, archaic)

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

• IPA^(key): /lɛfən/, [ˈlɛfn̩]

leven c

1. definite singular of lev (“lev”, currency)

• IPA^(key): /leːvən/, [ˈleːʋn̩], [ˈlewn̩]

1. gerund of leve

• leeven (obsolete)

• IPA^(key): /ˈleːvə(n)/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: le‧ven
• Rhymes: -eːvən

From Middle Dutch leven, from Old Dutch *libben, *livon, from Proto-West Germanic *libbjan.

leven

1. (intransitive) to live

   Ik wil leven in een stad dicht bij de natuur. ― I want to live in a city close to nature.

   Ze leeft voor haar kunst. ― She lives for her art.

   Hij heeft lang geleefd en veel meegemaakt. ― He has lived a long life and experienced much.

Conjugation of leven (weak)
infinitive	leven
past singular	leefde
past participle	geleefd
infinitive	leven
gerund	leven n
	present tense	past tense
1st person singular	leef	leefde
2nd person sing. (jij)	leeft, leef2	leefde
2nd person sing. (u)	leeft	leefde
2nd person sing. (gij)	leeft	leefde
3rd person singular	leeft	leefde
plural	leven	leefden
subjunctive sing.1	leve	leefde
subjunctive plur.1	leven	leefden
imperative sing.	leef
imperative plur.1	leeft
participles	levend	geleefd
1) Archaic. 2) In case of inversion.

• Afrikaans: leef, lewe
• Berbice Creole Dutch: lefu
• Jersey Dutch: lêve
• Negerhollands: leev, lif, leven

From Middle Dutch leven. Gerund of the verb leven. The literary sense is likely a semantic loan from Medieval Latin vīta.

leven n (plural levens, diminutive leventje n)

1. life (act or duration of living)

   Het leven is vol verrassingen. ― Life is full of surprises.

   Hij wilde zijn leven wijden aan wetenschappelijk onderzoek. ― He wanted to dedicate his life to scientific research.

   In mijn vrije tijd geniet ik van het leven. ― In my free time, I enjoy life.

2. (literature) life, biography (particularly, but not necessarily a hagiography)

   Synonyms: biografie, levensbeschrijving

   Hyponyms: hagiografie, heiligenleven, vita

   In zijn jonge jaren schreef hij een leven van Petrarca, maar dat is nooit gepubliceerd. ― In his youth he wrote a life of Petrarch, but that was never published.

• Afrikaans: lewe

• nevel

leven

1. inflection of levar:
   1. third-person plural present subjunctive
   2. third-person plural imperative

• lewen, lewe (alternative spelling in many dialects, including Low Prussian)
• lęven (in some dialects, including Mecklenburgisch and Western Pomeranian)

From Middle Low German lēven.

leven

1. to live

• levend

From Old Dutch *libben, *livon, from Proto-West Germanic *libbjan.

lēven

1. to live, to be alive
2. to live one's life
3. to live, to dwell

• Dutch: leven, leeven (obsolete)
  • Afrikaans: leef, lewe
  • Berbice Creole Dutch: lefu
  • Jersey Dutch: lêve
  • Negerhollands: leev, lif, leven
• Limburgish: leve, léëve

• “leven (II)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929), “leven (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page I

From Old English lǣfan, from Proto-West Germanic *laibijan.

• leaven, lefven

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɛːvən/

leven

1. to leave

• English: leave
• Scots: leve, leif
• Yola: laave, lea, lee

• “lēven, v.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

leven

1. alternative form of lyven

leven

1. lightning
   • 1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Wyfe of Bathes Prologue”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], →OCLC; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London]: […] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], 1542, →OCLC:

     With wilde thunder dint and fiery leven.

     With wild thunder-bolt and fiery lightning.

From Old Saxon libbian.

• Stem vowel: ē²
  • (originally) IPA^(key): /lɪɛvən/

leven

1. to live

• levend/levent

• Low German: leven
  • German Low German: lęven
  • Plautdietsch: läwen

leven

1. A lawn; an open space between woods^[1]
   • 1803, Walter Scott, Thomas the Rhymer:

     lily leven (a lawn overspread with lilies or flowers)

leven

1. inflection of levar:
   1. third-person plural present subjunctive
   2. third-person plural imperative

leven

1. definite singular of lev
2. indefinite plural of leve

Related to liv (“life”). May be from Middle Low German leven. Compare Norwegian Nynorsk leven (“noise”).

leven n

1. noise