lessee 
person to whom a lease is granted; a tenant 
taking an estate by lease. 
One [personage] is the lessee of the fishery, whose good 
will is of special importance. 
JE. A, Freeman, Venice, p. 340. 
lesseeship (le-se'ship), . [< lessee + -ship.] 
The condition or state of being a lessee. 
lesselt, . Same as lefesel. Bailey. 
lessen (les'n), v. [< less 1 + -en 1 . Cf. less 1 , .] 
1. intrans. 1. To become less; contract in bulk, 
quantity, number, or amount ; decrease; dimin- 
ish; shrink. 
Naught was 'twixt the sea and him at last, 
Except a lessening belt of yellow sand. 
William Morris, Earthly Paradise, II. 178. 
2. To come to appear less from increase of dis- 
tance. 
In mounting up In antiquity, like hawks, they did not 
only lessen, but fly out of sight, even beyond the ken and 
cognizance of any record. Fuller, Worthies, xvi. 
A rustling as of wings in flight, 
An upward gleam of lessening white, 
So passed the vision, sound and sight. 
Whittier, The Watchers. 
II. trans. 1. To make less; diminish; re- 
duce in number, size, degree, or quality. 
Wickedness is by being acknowledged lessened, and doth 
grow by being hid. 
Quoted in Hooker's Eccles. Polity, vi. 4. 
Well, we shall then know more ; and Buckingham 
Shall lessen this big look. Shak., Hen. VIII., i. 1. 119. 
2. To degrade ; reduce in dignity ; depreciate ; 
disparage. 
The making of new Lords lessens all the rest. 
Selden, Table-Talk, p. 69. 
St. Paul chose to magnify his office when ill men con- 
spired to lessen it. Sp. Atterbury. 
3. To cause to appear less from increase of 
distance ; specifically, in falconry, to soar above 
or beyond. 
Our two sorrows 
Work, like two eager hawks, who shall get highest ; 
How shall I lessen thine ? for mine, I fear, 
Is easier known than cur'd. 
Beau, and Fl., King and No King, iv. 1. 
lessening (les'ning), n. [Verbal n. of lessen, 
;.] 1 . The act or process of making or becom- 
ing less. Specifically 2. In falconry, a soar- 
ing flight. 
A flight of madness, like a falcon's lessening, makes 
them the more gaz'd at. Collier, Eng. Stage, p. 73. 
lesser (les'er), a. [< less 1 -f -er 3 . This is the 
eompar. less 1 , with the reg. compar. -er s su- 
perfluously annexed.] Less; smaller; minor. 
God made . . . the lesser light to rule the night. 
Gen. 1. 16. 
This is some monster of the isle with four legs. . . .Ill 
pull thee by the lesser legs. Shak., Tempest, ii. 2. 108. 
[Lesser is not so common as less, but it is almost always 
used after the definite article, and in antithesis to greater, 
as well as in certain specific uses, as in lesser Armenia.] 
Lesser appoggiatura, in music, the short appoggia- 
tura. Lesser barbiton. Same as kit. Lesser Dlony- 
sla, Eleustnla, excommunication, George, etc. See 
the nouns. Lesser line, the lesser of two lines whose 
squares are incommensurable, and the sum of whose 
squares is rational, while the rectangle is medial. Less- 
er litany. See litany. Lesser sixth, third, etc., in 
music, a minor sixth, third, etc. 
lessert (les'er), adv. [< lesser, a."] 1. In a 
smaller degree ; less. 
Some say he's mad ; others that lesser hate him 
Do call it valiant fury. Shak., Macbeth, v. 2. 13. 
2. To less purpose. 
I was an ear-witness 
When this young man spoke lesser than he acted, 
And had the soldier's voice to help him out. 
Beau, and Fl., Laws of Candy, ii. 1. 
lesses (les'ez), n. pi. [< ME. lesses, < OF. (F.) 
laissees, dung, lit. leavings, < laisse, pp. of laisser, 
leave: see lease 2 , v. t] In hunting, the ordure 
or excrement of the boar, wolf, or bear. 
And gif men speke and aske hym of the fumes, he shal 
clepe fumes of an hert croteynge, of a bukke and of the 
roo-bukke, of the wilde boor, and of blake beestys, and of 
wolfes, he shal clepe it lesses. MS. Bodl., 546. (HaUiwett.) 
lessness (les'nes), n. The quality or condition 
of being less; diminution; abatement; infe- 
riority; insignificance; meanness. [Rare.] 
In the original it hath no such relation to lessness or 
greatness of person. 
Sir T. Wyatt, To the King, Feb. 3, 1640. 
lesson (les'n), n. [< ME. lessoun, lessun, lescim, 
< OF. leytm, F. legon = Sp. leccion = Pg. lecgao 
= It. lezione, < L. lectio(n-), a reading, < legere, 
pp. lectus, read : see legend. Cf . lection, a doublet 
of lesson."] 1. A reading; a part of a book or 
writing read (originally aloud) at one time for 
information or instruction. 
Of the worth! wedding was bi-fore graunted 
Bi-twene the meyde Meliors & the prince of Grece ; 
Now listenes, lef lordes, this lessoun thus i ginne. 
William of Palerne (E. E. T. 8.), 1. 1929. 
3418 
Specifically 2. A portion of Scripture or 
other sacred writing appointed to be read during 
divine service. Lessons were used in the very early 
days of the Christian Church, being taken at first from the 
Old Testament, but to these were soon added selections 
from the New Testament, and later from the homilies of 
the fathers and from the Acts of Martyrs and Saints. In 
the Anglican Church the first lesson at morning or evening 
prayer is taken from the Old Testament (with inclusion 
of the books called the Apocrypha), and the second lesson 
from the New Testament. Those of the Roman Catholic 
Church include also lessons from the Acts of Martyrs and 
Saints, read on their memorial days. Also called lection. 
3. Something to be learned at one time ; a task 
assigned for study and recitation; a division 
of a text-book, or a particular portion of know- 
ledge of any kind, constituting a single exercise 
for a pupil. 
When baith bent doun ower a braid page, 
Wi' ae bulk on our knee, 
Thy lips were on thy lesson, but 
My lesson was in thee. 
Motherwett, Jeanie Morrison. 
One lesson from one book we learn'd. 
Tennyson, In Memoriam, Ixxix. 
4. Instruction conveyed to a pupil at a set 
time: as, to give lessons in drawing or music. 
"Tom, you needn't go ; I'm sure you wont be called up 
at first lesson. " Tom felt that he would risk being floored 
at every lesson for the rest of his natural school-life, sooner 
than go ; so sat down. 
T. Hughes, Tom Brown at Rugby, ii. 6. 
5. Something learned, or that may be learned; 
a special piece of knowledge gained or im- 
parted; an inculcation serving for guidance or 
for warning. 
I lerned amonge Lumbardes mid lewes a lessoun, 
To wey pens [pence] with a peys, and pare the heuyeat. 
Piers Plowman (B), ii. 242. 
Be not jealous over the wife of thy bosom, and teach 
her not an evil lesson against thyself. Eccles. ix. 1. 
learn to love ; the lesson is but plain. 
Shak., Venus and Adonis, 1. 407. 
The historian of true genius will choose for the employ- 
ment of his genius scenes from history that may read good 
and noble lessons to the world that reads him. 
Stubbs, Medieval and Modern Hist., p. 99. 
6. Severe admonition ; reproof ; rebuke. 
She would give her a lesson for walking so late. 
Sir P. Sidney. 
lesson (les'n), v. t. [< lesson, .] To give a les- 
son or lessons to ; teach ; instruct ; prompt. 
Could you not have told him 
As you were lesson' 'd? Shak., Cor., ii. 3. 185. 
Spenser ... on this occasion hurt the pride of Leicester, 
too haughty or too mortified to be lessoned by his familiar 
dependant. /. Disraeli, Amen, of Lit. , II. 123. 
The boy is lessoned in good behaviour from his earliest 
years. Nineteenth Century, XX. 45. 
Lessonia (le-so'ni-ii), n, [NL., named after E. 
P. Lesson, a French naturalist.] 1. A genus of 
South American muscisaxieoline flycatchers, 
of the family Tyrannidce. L. nigra and L. orcas 
compose the genus. Swainson, 1831. 2. A ge- 
nus of coelenterates. Eydoux and Souleyet, 1848. 
3. A genus of seaweeds belonging to the La- 
minariacea!, closely allied to Macrocystis and Ne- 
reocystis. Bory de Saint-Vincent, 1829. 
lessor (les'or), n. [< OF. lessor, < lesser, lease : 
see lease 2 , v. t] One who grants a lease ; the 
person who lets to a tenant. 
lessowt, and v. A variant of leasow. 
lest 1 (lest), con/. [Early mod. E. also least; < 
ME. leste, les the, < AS. thy Ices the,_the less 
that: thy, instr. of thcet, the, that; ICES, adv., 
less; the, conj., that: see the 2 , less 1 , that.'} For 
fear that; that . . . not; so that . . . not: as, 
he fled lest (or for fear that) he should be kill- 
ed; take heed lest you fall (that you fall not). 
I rede thee hence remove, 
Lead thou the price of my displeasure prove. 
Spenser, Shep. Cal., February. 
Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye 
die. Gen. iii. 3. 
lest'^t, Iest 3 t, etc. A Middle English form of 
last*, least 1 , list 1 , list 2 , and lust. 
Lestes (les'tez), . [NL., < Gr. /tflo-nfa (Ionic 
l.qiaTtif, Doric "Aaarr/s), a robber, < Aj^'fetrftw, carry 
off as booty, < %yif, equiv. to Ionic fata, faiir/, 
booty, plunder. Cf.Leistes.~\ A genus of beau- 
tiful dragon-flies, of the family Agrionidce, es- 
tablished by Leach in 1817. They have a large 
oblong pterostigma, two antecubital transverse venules, 
broken fourth apical sector, simple postcostal space, and 
forcipated appendages in the male. L. eurina is blue, 
green, and violet. 
Lestodon (les'to-don), n. [NL., < Gr. ^orfe, 
a robber, + bSovf (bSovT-) = E. tooth.~\ A ge- 
nus of large extinct sloths, related to Mylodon. 
Gervais, 1855. 
Lestornis (les-tdr'nis), n. [NL., < Gr. hqtrHis, 
a robber, + opmf, a bird.] A genus of large 
let 
odontornithic birds from the Cretaceous of 
Kansas, related to Hesperornif. The type is 
L. crassipes. Marsh, 1876. 
Lestridinse (les-tri-dl'ne), n. pi. [NL., < Lestris 
(Lestrid-) + -inee.] A subfamily of Laridce, typi- 
fied by the genus Lestris; the jagers or skuas. 
The bill is epignathous, as in Larince, but its covering is 
discontinuous, the upper mandible being saddled with a 
kind of cere beneath which the lateral nostrils open. 
The tail is nearly square, with the central rectrices long- 
exserted. The cseca are long, the sternum is single- 
notched, and the pterylosis is peculiar in some respects. 
The leading genus is Lestris, from which Stercorarim or 
Megalestris is now often separated. The species are few. 
chiefly inhabiting sea-coasts and large inland waters of 
the northern hemisphere. They are rapacious and vora- 
cious birds, which attack and harass others, especially 
gulls and terns, to make them disgorge or defecate in order 
to feed upon the droppings. The subfamily is also called 
Stercorariince. 
Lestris (les'tris), n. [NL. (Dliger, 1811), < Gr. 
'Aifcrpif, piratical, < ?.;or^f, a robber : Bee Lestes.] 
The typical genus of Lestridince, either held to 
be conterminous with the subfamily or restrict- 
ed to the smaller species like L. pomatorhinus 
and L. parasiticus. 
let 1 (lei), v.; pret. and pp. let,-ppc.letting. [<ME. 
leten, laten (pret. let, leet, Icet, pp. leten, laten, 
ileten), < AS. /ta,_ONorth. leta (pret. let, ledt, 
leort, pi. leton, pp. Iceten) = OS. Idtan = OFries. 
leta = D. laten MLG. LG. laten = OHG. lazan, 
lazzan, MHG. lazzen, G. lassen = Icel. lata = 
Dan. lade = Sw. lata = Goth, letan, let ; a redu- 
plicating verb, as shown in the earliest forms 
of the pret. (AS. ledrt, Goth, lailot) ; prob. akin to 
late 1 , and the related L. lassus, weary, faint, 
orig. *ladtus, in form a pp. from the root "lad : 
see late 1 . Let 1 is thus ult. related Jo let 2 , which 
is a causal verb from late 1 .'] I. trans. 1. To per- 
mit or allow (to be or to dp), either actively or 
passively ; grant or afford liberty (to) : followed 
by an infinitive without to : as, to let one do as 
he pleases ; to let slip an opportunity. 
Pharaoh said, I will let you go. Ex. viii. 28. 
The queen did let no man come in ... but myself. 
Esth. v. 12. 
Who lets so fair a house fall to decay? 
Shak., Sonnets, xiii. 
My Shakespeare's curse on clown and knave 
Who will not let his ashes rest ! 
Tennyson, To , after reading a Life and Letters. 
One that manures his ground well, but lets himselfe lie 
fallow and vntil'd. 
Bp. Earle, Micro-cosmographie, A Plaine Country Fellow. 
2. Hence also much used as a kind of impera- 
tive auxiliary, with following infinitive, to form 
imperative first and third persons : as, let him be 
accursed (literally, allow him to be accursed) ; 
let them retire at once ; teiuspray; let me be 
listened to when I speak. 
Dedications and panegyrics are frequently ridiculous, 
let them be addressed where they will. 
Steels, Tatler, No. 92. 
Now late vs leue all this as for a space. 
Generydes (E. E. T. S.), 1. 568. 
And God said, Let there be light : and there was light. 
Gen. 1. 3. 
Follow me ; and let the dead bury their dead. 
Mat. viii. 22. 
Don't let us ascribe his faults to his philosophy. 
Goldsmith, Good-natured Man, i. 
3. To furnish with leave or ability by direct 
action or agency; enable, cause, or make to do 
or to be: followed by an infinitive without to 
(except in the passive), or by a definitive adjec- 
tive or adverb (with ellipsis of 170, come, or 
get before the adverb) : as, I will let you know 
my decision ; let me understand your claim ; to 
let a person in (come in or enter) ; to let a man 
out of prison. 
In that mene tyme Alexander sent a lettre tille Olympas, 
his moder, and tille his mayster Arestotle, latent! thame 
witte of the batelles and the dyssese that thay suffred. 
MS. Lincoln, A. i. 17, f. 48. (Halliwell.) 
There's a letter for you, sir, ... if your name be Hora- 
tio, as I am let to know it is. Shak., Hamlet, iv. 6. 11. 
4f. To leave ; allow to remain or abide ; suffer 
to continue or proceed. 
And in that lawe thei leyue and leten hit for the beste. 
Piers Plmeman (C), xviii. 299. 
That heart only which is ready to do, or let undone, all 
things for his neighbour's sake, is a pleasant thing in the 
sight of God. 
Tyndale, Ans. to Sir T. More, etc. (Parker Soc. , 1850), p. 162. 
But let me to my fortune and the caskets. 
Shale., M. of V., iii. 2. 39. 
5f. To leave the care or control of; commit or 
intrust; resign; relinquish; leave. 
So high doctrines I lete to divines. 
Chaucer, Parson's Tale. 
Yf thou can stede welle ryde, 
Wyth me thou schalt be lete. 
MS. Cantab. Ff. ii. 38, f. 92. (HattiweU.) 
