leve

• IPA^(key): [ˈleːʋə], [ˈleːʊ]

From Old Norse lifa, from Proto-Germanic *libjaną, cognate with Swedish leva, Norwegian leve, Icelandic lifa, Dutch leven, German leben, and English live.

leve (imperative lev, infinitive at leve, present tense lever, past tense levede, perfect tense har levet)

1. to live, be alive
2. to live off or live on
3. to still exist (not extinct or abolished)

   Synonym: eksistere

4. to appear present and lively

A nominalization of the fossilized subjunctive leve (“may ... live”).

leve n (uninflected)

1. cheers

• leveråb

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

leve c

1. indefinite plural of lev (“bread”, archaic)

• “leve” in Den Danske Ordbog

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eːvə

leve

1. (dated or formal) singular present subjunctive of leven

Commonly used. Not archaic.

• veel, vele

From Proto-Finnic *lebeh.

• IPA^(key): /ˈleʋeˣ/, [ˈle̞ʋe̞(ʔ)]
• Rhymes: -eʋe
• Syllabification^(key): le‧ve
• Hyphenation^(key): le‧ve

leve

1. (dialectal, chiefly Eastern Finnish) synonym of hahtuva
2. synonym of lapo (“rakeful of hay”)

From Old Galician-Portuguese leve, from Latin levis, from Proto-Italic *leɣwis, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁lengʷʰ- (“light”).

leve m or f (plural leves)

1. light (of low weight; not heavy)

   Synonym: livián

2. gentle, light (having little force)

• levemente

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

leve

1. inflection of levar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

• “leve”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026

From French lever (“rise”), French soulever (“raise”).

• IPA^(key): /leve/

leve

1. to rise
2. to raise

From the lev- stem of lé (“juice”) +‎ -e (possessive suffix).

• IPA^(key): [ˈlɛvɛ]
• Hyphenation: le‧ve

leve

1. third-person singular single-possession possessive of lé

• olcsó húsnak híg a leve

• IPA^(key): /ˈleːvə/

leve

1. to live

• Boll, Piter Kehoma (2021), “leve”, in Dicionário Hunsriqueano Riograndense–Português, 3rd edition (overall work in Portuguese), Ivoti: Riograndenser Hunsrickisch

From Proto-Finnic *lebeh. Cognates include Finnish leve and dialectal Estonian leve.

• (Ala-Laukaa) IPA^(key): /ˈleʋe/, [ˈlʲe̞ʋe̞ˑ]
• (Soikkola) IPA^(key): /ˈleʋe/, [ˈle̞ʋe̞ˑ]
• Rhymes: -eʋe
• Hyphenation: le‧ve

leve

1. fluff
2. lock of hair

Declension of leve (type 6/lähe, p-v gradation, gemination)
	singular	plural
nominative	leve	leppeet
genitive	leppeen	leppein
partitive	levettä	leppeitä
illative	leppeesse	leppeisse
inessive	leppees	leppeis
elative	leppeest	leppeist
allative	leppeelle	leppeille
adessive	leppeel	leppeil
ablative	leppeelt	leppeilt
translative	leppeeks	leppeiks
essive	leppeennä, leppeen	leppeinnä, leppein
exessive1)	leppeent	leppeint
1) obsolete *) the accusative corresponds with either the genitive (sg) or nominative (pl) **) the comitative is formed by adding the suffix -ka? or -kä? to the genitive.

• Ruben E. Nirvi (1971), Inkeroismurteiden Sanakirja, Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, page 262

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɛ.ve/
• Rhymes: -ɛve
• Hyphenation: lè‧ve

leve f

1. plural of leva

• vele

leve

1. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter singular of levis

lēve n (genitive lēvis); third declension

1. smoothness

Third-declension noun (neuter, pure i-stem).

lēve

1. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter singular of lēvis

• "leve", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)

• laeve, leëve (Veldeke spelling)
• léëve (Eupen spelling)

Inherited from Proto-West Germanic *libbjan, from Proto-Germanic *libjaną.

• IPA^(key): /ˈlæː˨.və/
• (East Limburgish-Ripuarian) IPA^(key): /ˈleə̯˨.və/
• Rhymes: -æːvə, -eə̯və

leve (third-person singular present levt, preterite levde, past participle gelevt) (German-based spelling)

1. (intransitive) to live, to be alive
2. (intransitive) to dwell, to reside
3. (intransitive) to live, to exist, to occupy a place
4. (intransitive, hyperbolic, with met) to cope with, to live with, to deal with

lēve

1. inflection of lēven:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. first/third-person singular present subjunctive

Old English lēaf (“permission, privilege”), from Proto-Germanic *laubō (“permission, privilege, favour, worth”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewbʰ- (“to love”).

• lefe

leve (plural leves)

1. leave

• English: leave
• Scots: leve, leiv

• “lēve, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

leve

1. alternative form of leef

leve

1. alternative form of love (“remainder”)

leve

1. alternative form of leven

leve

1. alternative form of lyven

From Old Norse lifa, from Proto-Germanic *libjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *leip- (“leave, cling, linger”) (cognate with Swedish leva, Danish leve, Icelandic lifa, Dutch leven, German leben, English live).

leve (imperative lev, present tense lever, simple past levde or levet, past participle levd or levet, present participle levende)

1. to live

• “leve” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

From Old Norse lifa.

leve (present tense lever, past tense levde, supine levd or levt, past participle levd, present participle levande, imperative lev)

1. alternative form of leva
2. optative of leva

   leve kongen!

   live the king!

Specialised from the optative use of leva.

leve n

1. an exclamation of "leve!"
2. (by extension) a wish for a good and long life

• “leve” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

• leue

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɛβe/
• Rhymes: -ɛβe
• Hyphenation: le‧ve

Inherited from Latin levis. Doublet of lheu.

Cognate with Old Spanish lieve.

leve m or f (plural leves)

1. light (of low weight)

   Synonyms: ligeyro, livião

2. (derogatory) idiot; stupid

• Galician: leve
• Portuguese: leve

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

leve

1. inflection of levar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

• Ferreiro, Manuel (2014–2026), “leve”, in Universo Cantigas: edición crítica da poesía medieval galego-portuguesa [Universo Cantigas: critical edition of Galician-Portuguese medieval poetry] (in Galician), A Coruña: University of A Coruña, →ISSN
• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “leve”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “leve”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega

• Audio (Portugal (Porto)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛvi, -ɛvɨ
• Hyphenation: le‧ve

From Old Galician-Portuguese leve, from Latin levis, from Proto-Italic *leɣʷis, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁lengʷʰ- (“light”). Doublet of léu.

leve m or f (plural leves, comparable, comparative mais leve, superlative o mais leve or levíssimo, diminutive levinho)

1. light (of low weight; not heavy)

   Synonym: ligeiro

2. gentle, light (having little force)

   Synonym: suave

• levemente

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

leve

1. inflection of levar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

• “leve”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

levé

1. white-throated magpie-jay (Calocitta formosa)

   Synonyms: coo iñi, coñi

• Stark Campbell, Sara; et al. (1986), Diccionario mixteco de San Juan Colorado (Serie de vocabularios y diccionarios indígenas “Mariano Silva y Aceves”; 29)‎^[2] (in Spanish), México, D.F.: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, A.C., page 27

leve (Cyrillic spelling леве)

1. inflection of levi:
   1. masculine accusative plural
   2. feminine genitive singular
   3. feminine nominative/accusative/vocative plural

Borrowed from Latin levem, probably a borrowing in this form, as it was often used primarily in learned or literary contexts.^[1] However, the older form lieve, which it replaced, was inherited.

• IPA^(key): /ˈlebe/ [ˈle.β̞e]
• Rhymes: -ebe
• Syllabification: le‧ve

leve m or f (masculine and feminine plural leves, superlative levísimo)

1. mild, slight, light
2. minor, trivial

• “leve”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

leve

1. inflection of levar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

leve n

1. a (proposed) cheer

   Synonym: (possibly regional) leverne

   Kungen utbringade ett fyrfaldigt leve för födelsedagsbarnet

   The king led four [the usual number in Sweden] cheers [a fourfold cheer] for the birthday girl

• utbringa

leve

1. (archaic) present subjunctive of leva; used to express one's wish that someone or something may live long, mostly at celebration ceremonies, primarily birthday celebrations

   Leve konungen!

   Long live the king!

   Han leve! Hurra, hurra, hurra, hurra!

   (Long) may he live! Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah, hurrah!

One of few Swedish subjunctives still in common use.

• leve in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• leve in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• leve in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

• elev

From Proto-Finnic *lebeh.

• (Luutsa, Liivtšülä) IPA^(key): /ˈleve/, [ˈlevʲe]
• Rhymes: -eve
• Hyphenation: le‧ve

leve

1. fluff (roll of wool for spinning)

Declension of leve (type XIV/terve, p-v gradation, gemination)
	singular	plural
nominative	leve	lepped
genitive	leppe	leppeje, leppei
partitive	levette	leppeite, leppei
illative	leppese, leppe	leppeise
inessive	leppez	leppeiz
elative	leppesse	leppeisse
allative	leppele	leppeile
adessive	leppelle	leppeille
ablative	leppelte	leppeilte
translative	leppessi	leppeissi
*) the accusative corresponds with either the genitive (sg) or nominative (pl) **) the terminative is formed by adding the suffix -ssaa to the short illative (sg) or the genitive. ***) the comitative is formed by adding the suffix -ka to the genitive.

• Hallap, V.; Adler, E.; Grünberg, S.; Leppik, M. (2012), “leve”, in Vadja keele sõnaraamat [A dictionary of the Votic language], 2nd edition, Tallinn