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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

lien en · NOUN · etymology 1

Pronunciation

  • /liːn/
  • (US) audio
  • /ˈliːən/

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French lien, from Latin ligāmen (“bond”), from ligō (“tie, bind”).

Meanings

  1. (obsolete) tendon
  2. A right to take possession of a debtor’s property as security until a debt or duty is discharged.
    • In fact, an 1847 state medical convention in Alambama issued a recommendation that doctors caring for slaves seek liens upon the human chattel if their bills were not paid. 2008, Harriet A. Washington, “Southern Discomfort”, in Medical Apartheid, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, page 65:
    • […] every youth movement presents itself as loan to the future, and tries to call in its lien in advance, but when there is no future all loans are canceled. 1989, Greil Marcus, Lipstick Traces, Faber & Faber, published 2009:
    • Bodin deemed the king of France's power as absolute in the sense that the ruler was ‘absolved’ by divine sanction from legally binding liens and restrictions. 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 7:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
liens Number=Plur lexicographic

Deriveds

lienor · attorney's lien · blanket lien · lienholder · liensman · lienholding · banker's lien · agricultural lien · liened · vendor's lien · mechanic's lien · architect's lien · accountant's lien · lienable

Translations (29)

es derecho de retención (right to take and hold debtor’s property) · sv kvarstadsrätt (right to take and hold debtor’s property) · fr droit de rétention (right to take and hold debtor’s property) · it diritto di retenzione (right to take and hold debtor’s property) · fi pidätysoikeus (right to take and hold debtor’s property) · nl retentierecht (right to take and hold debtor’s property) · mi riena (right to take and hold debtor’s property) · fi panttioikeus (right to take and hold debtor’s property) · ja 担保物権 (right to take and hold debtor’s property) · ru зало́говое пра́во (right to take and hold debtor’s property) · pt direito de retenção (right to take and hold debtor’s property) · sk záložné právo (right to take and hold debtor’s property) · mi rīana (right to take and hold debtor’s property) · de Retentionsrecht (right to take and hold debtor’s property) · sh pravo zadržaja (right to take and hold debtor’s property) · cmn 留置權 /留置权 (right to take and hold debtor’s property) · fi kiinnitys (right to take and hold debtor’s property) · gl dereito de retención (right to take and hold debtor’s property) · hu visszatartási jog (right to take and hold debtor’s property) · af retensiereg (right to take and hold debtor’s property) · mi riana (right to take and hold debtor’s property) · sv panträtt (right to take and hold debtor’s property) · sl zastavna pravica (right to take and hold debtor’s property) · de Zurückbehaltungsrecht (right to take and hold debtor’s property) · cy hawlrwym (right to take and hold debtor’s property) · ru зало́г (right to take and hold debtor’s property) · pl prawo zatrzymania (right to take and hold debtor’s property) · cs zadržovací právo (right to take and hold debtor’s property) · cs retenční právo (right to take and hold debtor’s property)

lien en · VERB · etymology 2

Pronunciation

  • /ˈlaɪən/

Meanings

  1. (alt-of, alternative, archaic) Alternative form of lain.
    alt of lain
    • And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done vnto vs? one of the people might lightly haue lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest haue brought guiltinesse vpon vs.” 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 26:10:
    • And the Priest shall charge her by an othe, and say vnto the woman, If no man haue lyen with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to vncleannesse with another in stead of thy husband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse. 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Numbers 5:19:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
lyen alternative lexicographic

lien en · NOUN · etymology 3

Pronunciation

  • /ˈlaɪ.in/
  • /ˈlaɪ.ən/

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin liēn (“spleen”). Doublet of spleen.

Meanings

  1. (obsolete, possibly, uncommon) spleen (a ductless vascular gland)
    • Li'enal. Pertaining to the lien or spleen; splenic. 1892, John Marie Keating, Henry Hamilton, John Chalmers Da Costa, A New Pronouncing Dictionary of Medicine:
    • The lien or spleen (figs. 282 to 285) is a soft, highly vascular contractile and very elastic organ of a dark purplish colour. It is placed obliquely behind the stomach, … 1914, Quain's Elements of Anatomy, volume 1, page 312

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
lienes Number=Plur lexicographic

Relateds

lienic · lienal · lieno-

Synonyms

milt