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Webster's Dictionary (1865)

2 entries under this word

Leaven

Leav'en, n.

noun

(lēv'n) (Synop. § 130), n. [Fr. levain, Pr. levam, levat, from lever, levar, to raise; L. Lat. levanum, levamentum, Sp., Pg., & Pr. levadura, It. lievito. See LAVE, and cf. supra.]

Sense 1. Any substance that produces, or is designed to produce, fermentation, as in dough; especially, a mass of sour dough, which, mixed with a larger quantity of dough or paste, produces fermentation in it, and renders it light; yeast; barm.

Sense 2. Any thing which makes a general, especially a corrupting, change in the mass.

Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. Matt. xvi. 6.

Lĕav'en, v. t.

verbtransitive

(lēv'n), v. t. [imp. & p. p. LEAVENED; p. pr. & vb. n. LEAVENING.]

Sense 1. To excite fermentation in; to raise and make light, as dough or paste.

A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. 1 Cor. v. 6.

Sense 2. To taint; to imbue.

With these and the like deceivable doctrines, he leavens all his prayer. Milton.