Meanings
plural levirs
- A husband's brother.
Levirate marriage protects a levir's sexual property and a dead man's entitlement. The former, however, serves the latter.
2008, Deborah L. Ellens, Women in the Sex Texts of Leviticus and Deuteronomy: A Comparative Conceptual Analysis, Bloomsbury, →ISBN, page 2611 more example
The tie between the childless widow and the levir exists automatically from the moment of widowhood. Thus a sexual relationship with anyone other than the levir would be adulterous, an offense punishable by the death penalty, according to Lev. 20:10 and Deut. 22:22.
2001, David L. Lieber, Jules Harlow, Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary, page 236
Origin
- Late Latinlēvir
- Late Latinlēvir
- Englishlevir
Borrowed from Late Latin lēvir.
More words from Late Latin
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
levir. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/levir
“levir.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/levir. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “levir,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/levir.
Source: levir on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.