lionとは

意味・読み方・使い方

別の表記

• lyon (廃れた用法)

語源

From Middle English lyoun, lion, leon, borrowed from Old French lion, from Latin leō, (accusative: leōnem), from Ancient Greek λέων (léōn). Some argue that it is a borrowing from a Semitic language; however evidence is not clear and the relation with Proto-Semitic *labiʾ- is not solid. Semitic "labi/lavi" could either be a parent term to the Greek one or both could have evolved independently from a now lost root. Doublet of Leo, leu, lev, and Lyon.

発音

• enPR: lī'ən, IPA^(key): /ˈlaɪən/
• 韻: -aɪən

名詞

lion (複数形 lions または lion, feminine lioness)

1. A big cat, Panthera leo, native to Africa, India and formerly much of Europe.

   Tigers and lions share a common ancestor from a few million years ago.

   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Qveene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for VVilliam Ponsonbie, OCLC 960102938, book II, canto IX, stanza 14, page 311:

     For with ſuch puiſſance and impetuous maine / Thoſe Champions broke on them, that forſt the fly, / Like ſcattered Sheepe, whenas the Shepherds ſwaine / A Lyon and a Tigre doth eſpye, / With greedy pace forth ruſhing from the foreſt nye.

   1. (in particular) A male lion, as opposed to a lioness.
2. (by extension) Any of various extant and extinct big cats, especially the mountain lion.
3. A Chinese foo dog.
4. An individual who shows strength and courage, attributes associated with the lion.
   • 2003, Peter Armstrong and Angus McBride, Stirling Bridge & Falkirk 1297–98: William Wallace's Rebellion:

     It was said of [Edward Plantaganet] that 'he was a lion for pride and ferocity but a pard for inconstancy and changeableness, not keeping his word or promise but excusing himself with fair words'.

5. A famous person regarded with interest and curiosity.
   • 1847 March 30, Herman Melville, Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas; […], London: John Murray, […], OCLC 364546898:

     During this period, we were the lions of the neighbourhood; and, no doubt, strangers from the ​distant villages were taken to see the "Karhowrees" (white men), in the same way that countrymen, in a city, are gallanted to the Zoological Gardens.

   • 1844, John Wilson, Essay on the Genius, and Character of Burns

     Such society was far more enjoyable than that of Edinburgh, for here he was not a lion, but a man.

   • 1919, W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence, ch. 4

     Rose Waterford was a cynic. She looked upon life as an opportunity for writing novels and the public as her raw material. Now and then she invited members of it to her house if they showed an appreciation of her talent and entertained with proper lavishness. She held their weakness for lions in good-humoured contempt, but played to them her part of the distinguished woman of letters with decorum.

6. A light brown color that resembles the fur of a lion. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

   lion:  

7. (historical) An old Scottish coin, with a lion on the obverse, worth 74 shillings.

Holonyms

• (individual Panthera leo): pride

等位語

• (Panthera leo): cougar, leopard, panther, puma, tiger
• (male lion individual): cub, lioness

派生語

関連する語

派生した語

• → Hawaiian: liona
• → Japanese: ライオン (raion)
• → Maia: laion
• → Tokelauan: leona

形容詞

lion (not comparable)

1. Of the light brown color that resembles the fur of a lion.

参考

• lion on Wikipedia.
• Panthera leo on Wikispecies.
• lion on Wikimedia Commons.
• Appendix:Animals
• Appendix:English collective nouns

アナグラム

• Nilo-, Olin, lino, loin, noil