lean: [OE] Lean ‘thin’ and lean ‘incline’ are of course of completely different origin. The adjective goes back to a prehistoric Germanic *khlainjaz. The verb can be traced to an Indo- European base *kli- ‘lean, slope’, which has given English a wealth of vocabulary. Via Greek intermediaries have come climate, climax, and clinic, while its Latin descendant clīnāre has produced decline, incline, and recline.
The prehistoric Germanic verb formed from it was *khlinōjan, which has diversified into modern German lehnen, Dutch leunen, and English lean. From the same Germanic base come ladder, and also perhaps links ‘golf course’ [OE], which originally meant ‘sloping or rising ground’. => climate, climax, clinic, decline, incline, ladder, links, recline
lean (v.)
c. 1200, from Old English hleonian "to bend, recline, lie down, rest," from Proto-Germanic *khlinen (cognates: Old Saxon hlinon, Old Frisian lena, Middle Dutch lenen, Dutch leunen, Old High German hlinen, German lehnen "to lean"), from PIE root *klei- "to lean, to incline" (cognates: Sanskrit srayati "leans," sritah "leaning;" Old Persian cay "to lean;" Lithuanian slyti "to slope," slieti "to lean;" Latin clinare "to lean, bend," clivus "declivity," inclinare "cause to bend," declinare "bend down, turn aside;" Greek klinein "to cause to slope, slant, incline;" Old Irish cloin "crooked, wrong;" Middle Irish cle, Welsh cledd "left," literally "slanting;" Welsh go-gledd "north," literally "left" -- for similar sense evolution, see Yemen, Benjamin, southpaw).
Meaning "to incline the body against something for support" is mid-13c. Figurative sense of "to trust for support" is from early 13c. Sense of "to lean toward mentally, to favor" is from late 14c. Related: Leaned; leaning. Colloquial lean on "put pressure on" (someone) is first recorded 1960.
lean (adj.)
"thin, spare, with little flesh or fat," c. 1200, from Old English hlæne "lean, thin," possibly from hlænan "cause to lean or bend," from Proto-Germanic *khlainijan, which would connect it to Old English hleonian (see lean (v.)). But perhaps rather, according to OED, from a PIE *qloinio- (with cognates in Lithuanian klynas "scrap, fragment," Lettish kleins "feeble"). Extended and figurative senses from early 14c. The noun meaning "lean animals or persons" is from c. 1200, from the adjective.
lean (n.)
"action or state of leaning," 1776, from lean (v.).
双语例句
1. She was feeling tired and was glad to lean against him.
她正感到有些疲倦，因此很高兴可以靠在他身上。
来自柯林斯例句
2. Lean the plants against a wall and cover the roots with peat.
把植物靠墙摆放，用泥煤盖住根部。
来自柯林斯例句
3. It is a beautiful meat, very lean and tender.
这块肉很好，又瘦又嫩。
来自柯林斯例句
4. Visitors remember a lean, cheerful figure on horseback urging on his men.
访客们记住了一个瘦削、乐观的人骑在马上为他的手下鼓劲。
来自柯林斯例句
5. Lean hard-training women athletes may men-struate less frequently or not at all.
