English
lenis
Lenis comes from Latin lēnis ‘soft, smooth’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *leh₁- ‘lazy, slow’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leh₁-‘lazy, slow’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*lēnis‘soft, mild’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElēnis‘soft, smooth’
- Englishearliest quotation 2004lenis
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leh₁-‘lazy, slow’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*lēnis‘soft, mild’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElēnis‘soft, smooth’
- Englishearliest quotation 2004lenis
Earliest quotation: 2004, Stephan Gramley, Michael Pätzold: “All vowels, whether short or complex, are relatively shorter…”
Linked words
through Latin lēnis ‘soft, smooth’
Today it means
adj Relatively weakly articulated, hence unaspirated and possibly voiced; especially as compared to the others of a group of homorganic consonants.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *leh₁- / lenis