noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   leniency, mercy, forgiveness countable, uncountable

   "His Highneſſe pleaſure is that he ſhould liue, And be reclaim’d with princely lenitie."

2. 2
   mercifulness as a consequence of being lenient or tolerant wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

abnegationabstinenceacceptancebleeding heartbonhomiecalm

Example

More examples

"His Highneſſe pleaſure is that he ſhould liue, And be reclaim’d with princely lenitie."

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French lénité, from Latin lēnitās.

Related phrases

rule of lenity

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.