Leonine

Quick meaning: Leonine is an adjective meaning Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a lion; lionlike.

Meaning

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

More Meanings

1. (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)”).
2. (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).
3. 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).
4. (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.

Example Sentences

leonine rhyme

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

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

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

Word Forms

• leonines

Synonyms for leonine

Depending on context, synonyms include lionesque, lionly.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include lemony, lupine, wolfly, leviathanic, lutrine, lordly.

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