Skip to content

lenient

adjective

No English definition recorded for this entry.

L338107 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˈliːni.ənt/

adj

Etymology: From Middle French lénient, from Latin lēniēns (whence -i- + -ent), present participle of lēnīre (“to soften, soothe”), from lēnis (“soft”).

  1. Lax; not strict; tolerant of dissent or deviation.

    The standard is fairly lenient, so use your discretion.

    But in other points, as well as this, I was growing very lenient to my master; I was forgetting all his faults, for which I had once kept a sharp look-out. It had formerly been my endeavour to study all sides of his character; to take the bad with the good; and from the just weighing of both, to form an equitable judgment. Now I saw no bad.

noun

Etymology: From Middle French lénient, from Latin lēniēns (whence -i- + -ent), present participle of lēnīre (“to soften, soothe”), from lēnis (“soft”).

  1. A lenitive; an emollient.