levant

levant · noun, verb¹

1. Latin · derived fromlevō
2. French · derived fromlevant
3. English todaylevant

Transferral use of Levant, from French levant. Compare French faire voile en Levant (“to sail eastward”), literally: set the sail with the Levant, an easterly wind that blows in the Mediterranean Sea. Ultimately from Latin levō + -ant.

levant · adjective²

1. French · derived fromlevant
2. English todaylevant

From French levant.

Levant · proper noun, proper noun, noun³

1. Latin · derived fromlevō“to rise”
2. French · borrowed fromlevant“rising, sun's point of rising”
3. English todayLevant

Borrowed from French levant (“rising, sun's point of rising”), form of lever (“to rise”), from Latin levō (“to rise”) (cf. also the present participle levāns), from levis (“light, not heavy”).

Words from the same roots