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Added 9 October 2026

leaven

/ˈlɛv.ən/ noun

Latin root: levō Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about leaven at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Any agent used to make dough rise or to have a similar effect on baked goods.
Anything that induces change, especially a corrupting or vitiating change.
Chametz.

verb

To add a leavening agent.
Yeast is used to leaven bread, making it rise during baking.
To cause to rise by fermentation.
To temper an action, decision, attitude, characteristic, etc.

Origin

From Middle English levayn, borrowed from Old French levain, from Vulgar Latin *levāmen, a noun based on Latin levō (“raise”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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