lesson, lescun, lessoun

[Fr. leçon, from Lat. lectionem, acc us. of lectio =a reading, from lectus, pa. par. of lego to read; Sp. leccion; Ital. lezione.] I. Ordinary Language: 1. Any exercise done, or portion of a book read, repeated, or recited by a pupil to a teacher for the purpose of improvement; any portion of a book or any exercise given by a teacher to a pupil or learner to be learned at a time; something learned or to be learned. 2. Instruction given to a pupil at one time; as, to give six le ons on the piano. 3. A portion of Scripture appointed to be read during divine service. 4. A precept, maxim, or doctrine inculcated. 5. A warning, a caution; as, This will be a le on to him. 6. A severe reprimand or rebuke; a scolding. II. Music : An a igned task, an exercise or tune for the voice or an instrument. The word formerly was applied to exercises (for the harpsichord or other instruments) of the character now known as suites or sonatas. le -on, v. t. [LESSON, 8.] To teach, to instruct. lès-sō-ni-a, s. [Named after M. Le on, the ornithologist.] 1. Bot.: A genus of Fucacese, tribe Fucaceæ, family Lamina ridæ. It forms large or submarine for ests, chiefly in the southern hemisphere. According to Bury St, Vincent, Le on i a frutescens is twenty five or thirty feet high, with a stem as thick as a man's thigh. It is used for knife-handles, ., but will not burn as firewood. 2. Ornith.: A genus of South American Motacillinse (Wagtails). les-sor', s. [English lease (1), v.; -or.] One who grants a lease; who lets any land, tenements, ., on lease. lěst, *leste, conj . [A shortened form of the A. S. expre ion dhý læs dhe (later thi les the ) = for the reason le that; where dhý (=for the reason) is the instrumental case of the definite article, læs = le , and dhe (that) is the indeclinable relative. At a later period dhý was dropped, læs became les , and coalescing with dhe became les the , then leste , and finally lest . For fear that; that not. "Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die." Gen. iii. 3, 4. *lěst, v. t. & i. [LIST.] *lěst, s. [LUST.] *leste (1), a. [LEAST.] *leste (2), a. [LAST.] *les-tër-cock, s . [Etym. doubtful.) (See ex tract.) English Channel; but the Common Skua ( Lestris cataractes ) has been met with in the Straits of Magellan. let (1), *lete, *let-en (pa. t. * lat , let , * leet , * lette , pa. par. * laten , leten , *lete, let), v. t. & i . [A. S. lætan, létan=to let, to allow (pa. t. lét , leót , pa. par. lætten ); cogn. with Dut. laten (pa. t. liet , pa. par. gelaten ); Icel. láta (pa. t. lét , pa. par. látinn ); Dan. lade (pa. t. lod , pa. par. ladet ); Sw. lat a (pa.t. lät , pa. par. laten ) ; Goth. let an (pa. t. laitot , pa. par. letans); Ger. la en (pa. t. lie , pa. par. gel as sen ) .] A. Transitive : 1. To cause. ( Robert of Gloucester, p. 23.) 2. To permit, to allow, to suffer; to give leave, power, liberty, or authority to. "Pharaoh said, I will let you go."- Exodus viii. 28. 5. To let drive: let (1) Trans.: To send forth or discharge with force or violence; as, to let drive an arrow. (2) In trans.: To aim a blow; to strike with force or violence; as, to let drive at a man. ( Slang .) 6. To let fall : To speak, utter, or mention incidentally; as, to let fall a remark. 7. To let fly : The same as to let drive (q. v.). 8. To let go: To allow to depart; to release from confinement; to remove restraint from. "If thou let this man go , thou art not Cæsar's friend." -John xix. 12. IMG:content-0497.png:[blocks in formation] 11. To let into: (1) To admit; to let in. (2) To insert in a space prepared; as, A stone is let into a wall. 12. To let into a secret: To acquaint a person with something secret or known only to a few. 13. To let loose: To free from restraint; to suffer to go free; to release. "Finding an ease in not understanding, he let loose his thoughts wholly to pleasure." -Sidney : Arcadia. 14. To let off : (1) To suffer or allow to go free, as from some penalty or punishment. (2) To discharge, to fire off, as an arrow or a gun. "Charging my pistol with powder, I cautioned the emperor not to be afraid, and then let it off in the air." Swift : Gulliver's Travels ; Lilliput . (3) To release, as from an on gage ment; as, I will In this sense let is followed by the infinitive let you off the bargain. without the sign to. *3. To leave. "So high doctrine I lete to divines." sones Tale. Chaucer: Per 4. To suffer, allow, or permit a thing to follow any course or to remain in any state. 15. To let on: To tell, to give information. ( Vul gar .) 16. To let out : (1) To suffer to escape; to release from confinement. (2) To allow to become known; to divulge. (3) To extend, to enlarge, to loosen; as, to let out "When the ship was caught, and could not bear up into a dre . the wind, we let her drive. -Acts xxvii. 15. 5. To grant the use, occupation, or po e ion of on payment of a certain stipulated rent; to lease. "A householder planted a vineyard, and let it out to husbandmen." -Matthew xxi. 33. 6. To lend on hire (generally followed by out ); as, He lets out carriages. 7. To give out on contract; to give out to be done or carried out at an agreed rate or price; as, to let the building of a house; to let a contract. 8. Let is principally used in the imperative mood, with the following differences in force: (1) Prayer, entreaty, desire, wish; as, " Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his." (2) Exhortation, entreaty, advice; "Rise, let us be going." (3) Permi ion, conce ion; as, Let them remain. (4) Command, precept, desire; as, " Let my people go, that they may serve me." IMG:content-0498.png:[blocks in formation] (2) To soften in tempering, as tools, cutlery, . "You must let it down , that is, make it softer by tempering it."- Moxon : Mechanical Exercises . chin, bench; go, gem; thin, this; IMG:content-0499.png:[blocks in formation] 21. To let up : To quit; to forbear; to moderate. 22. To let well alone : To leave matters as they are; to let things be, without trying to improve what is already satisfactory. let-off, s. Weaving: An arrangement in a loom by which the yarn is paid off from the beam at such a rate as it shall be required by the weaving proce , and which is dependent upon the rate of the picks, the sizes of the warp and weft thread, the compactne with which it is beaten up by the lay. The take-up is the winding onto the cloth-beam of the completed web, and proceeds coincidently with the letoff from the yarn-beam. Regularity of let-off is secured by making the rate of surface motion of the yarn-beam depend upon the tension of the yarn; and the rate of revolution of the beam, to secure equal speed of let-off, will become rapid as the bulk of yarn diminishes from the roller. †lět (2), *lette, v. t . & i. [A. S. lettan , gelettan = to make late, from læt =slow: as hinder is from -hind in behind ; Dut. letten to impede, from laat =late; Icel. letja , from latr ; Goth. latjan =to be late, from lats =slothful.] A. Trans.: To hinder, to impede, to obstruct, to prevent. ( Shakesp .: Hamlet , i. 4.) B. In trans.: To hinder, to obstruct; to cause obstruction. (2 The alonians ii. 7.) lět (1), s. [LET (1), v.] A letting for hire. lět (2), s. [LET (2), v.] 1. Ord . Lang .: A hindrance, an obstacle, an impediment, a delay. "All lets thrown behind me." Mas singer: Virgin Martyr, i. 1. sin, as; expect, Xenophon, exist. ph = f. let-alone 2. Tennis, lawn - tennis , and racquets : A let is any hindrance in the course of a game, which does not arise from the fault of the player. In lawn-tennis, when the service-ball touches the top of the net and falls over into the right court, the stroke is a "let," and the player serves again. let-alone, subst. Forbearance; abstention from action. ( Shakesp.: Lear, v. 3.) -lět, suff . [Fr. -et .] A diminutival suffix frequently appended to English nouns; as, stream, streamlet. let-a-be, let-a-bee, adv. or conj. [A-BE.] letch (1), s. [.A. S. leccan =to moisten.] 1. A quantity of wood ashes through which water pa es or letches, and thus imbibes the alkali. 2. A letch-tub. 3. A stagnant ditch.