Meaning

Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a lion; lionlike..

Definitions by Sense

1. Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a lion; lionlike.
2. Of or pertaining to one of the popes named Leo; specifically (in Leonine City), to Pope Leo IV (r. 847–855) who ordered the building of a wall around Vatican Hill to protect what is now Vatican City, or (in Leonine Prayers) to Pope Leo XIII (r. 1878–1903).
3. (poetry) Being or relating to 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); also (by extension), of or relating to modern verse having internal rhyme.
4. (poetry, chiefly in the plural) 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)”).
5. (numismatics, historical) 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).

Example Sentences

He was of a leonine-coloured haire, sanguinocholerique, middle sized, strong.

Ti′ger. […] A fierce beaſt of the leonine kind.

Redoubted King, of courage leonine, / I mark thee, Richard!

Great sensibility lay in him [Edward Sterling], too; a real sympathy, and affectionate pity and softness, which he had an over-tendency to express even by tears,—a singular sight in so leonine a man.

He [Walter Savage Landor] was a man of somewhat leonine aspect as regards the general appearance and expression of the head and face, which accorded well with the large and massive build of the figure, and to which a superbly curling white beard added not only picturesqueness, but a certain nobility.

He [John B. Cox] is the birdwatching equivalent of a great hunter, striding along the edge of the swamp with an almost leonine confidence, his large hands gripping his binoculars like a gunslinger wields a Colt 45.

The Nineteenth and Tvventieth Days vvere ſpent in ſeeing the Monuments of the Leonine City, the Vatican Church, the Palace and Library.

leonine rhyme

Word Forms

• more leonine
• most leonine
• Leonine
• leonines
• lionine

Synonyms for leonine

Related Words

When Should You Use Leonine?

Use leonine when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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