lean

Word Origins notes that the two words spelled lean are of different origins, though both are Old English: to incline, related to Latin clinare, and thin, of uncertain origin.^[1][2]

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈliːn/^[3]

lean¹ incline

Etymology

It is Middle English lenen, inherited from Old English hleonian (“to recline, lie down, bend”) (West Saxon hlinian),^[4][5][6] from Proto-Germanic *hlinēn, source also of Old Saxon hlinon, Dutch leunen and German lehnen,^[5][2] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *klei- (“to lean”), also the root of Latin clīnāre, to bend (as in incline) and Greek κλίνω (klínein, “to lean”).^[5][6][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

To lean or recline: about 725, in Beowulf.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Figuratively, to trust for support, is from the early 13th century,^[5] and to incline the body against something for support from the mid-13th century.^[5] To cause to lean or rest is 14th-century,^[5] and to favour mentally, lean towards, late 14th-century.^[5] The noun, an act of leaning, is from 1776.^[5][7] Lean on, to put pressure on someone, is first recorded in 1960.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 725 – to recline.^[4]
• early 13th century – to rely on.^[5]
• late 14th century – to incline mentally.^[5]
• 1776 – a lean (noun).^[5][7]
• 1960 – to lean on, pressure.^[5]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To bend or move from a vertical position.
2. To rest against something for support.
3. (lean on) To depend on for support, or (informal) to put pressure on.
4. (lean towards) To favour an opinion or course.

Noun

1. A slope or inclination.

Word family

• lean-to
• leaning

lean² thin

Etymology

It is Middle English lene, inherited from Old English hlǣne (“lean, thin”),^[4][5][6] of uncertain origin.^[2] Skeat derived it from hlǣnan, to cause to lean or bend, connecting it with lean, to incline,^[5][4] but the OED prefers a PIE *klóynyo-, with cognates in Lithuanian klynas, scrap, and Latvian kleins, feeble.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Thin, with little flesh: about 1000.^[4][7]

Semantic evolution

Extended and figurative senses, such as meagre or unproductive, are from the early 14th century.^[5] Of meat, containing little fat, it is a later sense.^[8][9] In business jargon from the 1970s it was paired with mean, suggesting the aggressiveness of hunger.^[5] An obsolete Old English lean meant reward or recompense.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 1000 – thin.^[4][7]
• early 14th century – figurative senses.^[5]
• 1970s – lean and mean.^[5]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Thin, especially healthily so; having little body fat.
2. Of meat, containing little fat.
3. Offering little reward or nourishment; meagre: lean years.
4. Of an organization, efficient and with no waste.

Noun

1. The lean part of meat.

Word family

• leanness

Related words

• climate
• cline
• incline
• decline
• recline
• clinic
• ladder

References

1. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
4. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins