What does lief mean?
Definitions for lief
liflief
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word lief.
Princeton's WordNet
gladly, lief, fainadverb
in a willing manner
"this was gladly agreed to"; "I would fain do it"
Wiktionary
liefadverb
Readily, willingly.
liefadjective
beloved, dear, agreeable
liefadjective
willing
Etymology: From leof, from leubaz, whence Gothic 033B03390346033F0343. Cognate with lief, lieb, любовь, and Norwegian Nynorsk ljuv.
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
Liefadjective
Dear; beloved.
Etymology: leof , Saxon; lief, Dutch.
My liefest lord, she thus beguiled had,
For he was flesh; all flesh doth frailty breed. Fa. Qu.You, with the rest,
Causeless have laid disgraces on my head;
And with your best endeavour have stirr’d up
My liefest liege to be mine enemy. William Shakespeare, Henry VI.Liefadverb
Willingly.
If I could speak so wisely under an arrest, I would send for certain of my creditors; and yet to say the truth, I had as lief have the foppery of freedom, as the morality of imprisonment. William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure.
ChatGPT
lief
Lief is an adverb that is often used in the phrase "I had as lief" and it essentially means "willingly" or "gladly." It stems from Old English and is now considered archaic and is rarely used in modern English.
Webster Dictionary
Liefnoun
same as Lif
Liefnoun
dear; beloved
Liefnoun
pleasing; agreeable; acceptable; preferable
Liefadverb
willing; disposed
Liefnoun
a dear one; a sweetheart
Liefadverb
gladly; willingly; freely; -- now used only in the phrases, had as lief, and would as lief; as, I had, or would, as lief go as not
Etymology: [OE. leef, lef, leof, AS. lef; akin to OS. liof, OFries. liaf, D. lief, G. lieb, OHG. liob, Icel. ljfr, Sw. ljuf, Goth. liubs, and E. love. 124. See Love, and cf. Believe, Leave, n., Furlough, Libidinous.]
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
Lief
lēf, adj. (arch.) loved, dear.—adv. willingly—now chiefly used in the phrases, 'I had as lief,' 'to have liefer.' [A.S. leóf; Ger. lieb, loved.]
Suggested Resources
LIEF
What does LIEF stand for? -- Explore the various meanings for the LIEF acronym on the Abbreviations.com website.
Surnames Frequency by Census Records
LIEF
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Lief is ranked #60636 in terms of the most common surnames in America.
The Lief surname appeared 332 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 would have the surname Lief.
95.1% or 316 total occurrences were White.
2.4% or 8 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
1.5% or 5 total occurrences were Asian.
Anagrams for lief »
file
life
Life
leif
feil
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of lief in Chaldean Numerology is: 8
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of lief in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5
Popularity rank by frequency of use
References
Translations for lief
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
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"lief." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 25 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/lief>.
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