Emily Dickinson Lexicon

LEND, v.t. [pret. and pp. lent. Sax. lænan; Sw. läna; Dan. laaner; G. leihen; D. leenen. Lend is a corrupt orthography of lend or loan, or derived from it. See Loan.]

1. To grant to another for temporary use, on the express or implied condition that the thing shall be returned; as, to lend a book; or,
2. To grant a thing to be used, on the condition that its equivalent in kind shall be returned; as, to lend a sum of money, or a loaf of bread.
3. To afford; to grant; to furnish, in general; as, to lend assistance; to lend an ear to a discourse. Cato, lend me for a while thy patience. – Addison.
4. To grant for temporary use, on condition of receiving a compensation at certain periods for the use of the thing, and an ultimate return of the thing, or its full value. Thus money is lent on condition of receiving interest for the use, and of having the principal sum returned at the stipulated time. Lend is correlative to borrow.
5. To permit to use for another's benefit. A. lent his name to obtain money from the bank.
6. To let for hire or compensation; as, to lend a horse or gig. [This sense is used by Paley, and probably may be common in England. But in the United States, I believe, the word is never thus used, except in reference to money. We lend money upon interest, but never lend a coach or horse for a compensation. We use let.]

LEND'A-BLE, a.

That may be lent. – Sherwood.

LEND'ER, n.

1. One who lends. The borrower is servant to the lender. Prov. xxii.
2. One who makes a trade of putting money to interest. – Bacon. Dryden.

LEND'ING, n.

1. The act of loaning.
2. That which is lent or furnished. – Shak.

LEND'ING, ppr.

Granting for temporary use. [See Lend.]

LENDS, n. [Sax.]

Loins. [Not in use.] – Wickliffe.

LENGTH, n. [Sax. lengthe, from leng, long; D. lengte.]

1. The extent of any thing material from end to end; the longest line which can be drawn through a body, parallel to its sides; as, the length of a church or of a ship; the length of a rope or line.
2. Extent; extension. Stretch'd at his length, he spurns the swarthy ground. – Dryden.
3. A certain extent; a portion of space; with a plural. Large lengths of seas and shores. – Shak.
4. Space of time; duration, indefinitely; as, a great length of time. What length of time will this enterprise require for its accomplishment?
5. Long duration. May heaven, great monarch, still augment your bliss, / With length of days, and every day like this. – Dryden.
6. Reach or extent; as, to pursue a subject to a great length.
7. Extent; as, the length of a discourse, essay, or argument.
8. Distance. He had marched to the length of Exeter. [Unusual and inelegant.] – Clarendon. At length, at or in the full extent. Let the name be inserted at length. #2. At last; at the end or conclusion. – Dryden.

LENGTH, v.t.

To extend. [Not used.]

LENGTH'EN, v.i.

To grow longer; to extend in length. A hempen rope contracts when wet, and lengthens when dry.

LENGTH'EN, v.t. [length'n.]

1. To extend in length; to make longer; to elongate; as, to lengthen a line.
2. To draw out or extend in time; to protract; to continue in duration; as, to lengthen life. The days lengthen from December to June.
3. To extend; as, to lengthen a discourse or a dissertation.
4. To draw out in pronunciation; as, to lengthen a sound or a syllable. This verb is often followed by out, which may be sometimes emphatical, but in general is useless. What if I please to lengthen out his date? – Dryden.

LENGTH'EN-ED, pp.

Made longer; drawn out in length; continued in duration.

LENGTH'EN-ING, n.

Continuation; protraction. Dan. iv.

LENGTH'EN-ING, ppr.

Making longer; extending in length or in duration.

LENGTH'FUL, a.

Of great length in measure. – Pope.

LENGTH'I-LY, adv.

In a lengthy manner; at great length or extent. – Jefferson.

LENGTH'I-NESS, n.

Length; the state of being lengthy. – Knickerbocker, March, 1833.

LENGTH'WISE, adv.

In the direction of the length; in a longitudinal direction.

LENGTH'Y, a.

Being long or moderately long; not short; not brief; applied mostly to moral subjects, as to discourses, writings, arguments, proceedings, &c.; as, a lengthy sermon; a lengthy dissertation; a lengthy detail. Lengthy periods. – Washington's Letter to Plater. No ministerial act in France, in matters of judicial cognizance is done without a proces verbal, in which the facts are stated amidst a great deal of lengthy formality, with a degree of minuteness, highly profitable to the verbalizing officers and to the revenue. – Am. Review, Ap. Oct. 1811. P S Murray has sent or will send a double copy of the Bride and Giaour; in the last one some lengthy additions; pray accept them according to old customs. – Lord Byron's Letter to Dr. Clarke, Dec. 13, 1813. Chalmers' Political Annals, in treating of South Carolina … is by no means as lengthy as Mr. Hewitt's History. – Drayton's View of South Carolina. These would be details too lengthy. – Jefferson.

LE'NI-EN-CY, n.

Lenity.

LE'NI-ENT, a. [L. leniens, from lenio, lenis, soft, mild; Ar. لَلنَ laina, to be soft, or smooth. Class Ln, No. 4. The primary sense probably is smooth, or to make smooth, and blandus may be of the same family.]

1. Softening; mitigating; assuasive. Time, that an all things lays his lenient hand, / Yet tames not this. – Pope. Sometimes with of; as, lenient of grief. – Milton.
2. Relaxing; emollient. Oils relax the fibers, are lenient, balsamic. – Arbuthnot.

LE'NI-ENT, n.

That which softens or assuages; an emolient. – Wiseman.

LE'NI-ENT-LY, adv.

Mitigatingly; assuagingly.

LEN'I-FY, v.t.

To assuage; to soften; to mitigate. [Little used.] – Bacon. Dryden.

LEN'I-MENT, n.

An assuasive. [Not used.]

LEN'I-TIVE, a. [It. lenitivo; Fr. lenitif; from L. lenio, to soften.]

Having the quality of softening or mitigating, as pain or acrimony; assuasive; emollient. – Bacon. Arbuthnot.