Levant
adj, name, noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 An easterly wind, generally in the western Mediterranean Sea.
- 2 A disappearing or absconding after losing a bet.
- 3 a heavy morocco often used in bookbinding wordnet
- 4 A type of leather.
"[I]t was bound by G. Levitsky […] in turquoise Levant, stamped back and front with the Crosby crest in gold."
- 1 To abscond or run away, especially to avoid paying money or debts.
"In a mighty little time their husbands played them false and, taking whatever they could lay hands upon, levanted and left them in the lurch."
- 2 run off without paying a debt wordnet
- 1 Rising, of an animal. not-comparable
"Crest, a stag regardant levant argent."
- 2 Rising or having risen from rest; said of cattle. not-comparable
- 3 Eastern. not-comparable, poetic
"Forth rush the levant and the ponent winds."
- 1 A cultural region of West Asia, consisting of the countries bordering the eastern Mediterranean Sea, namely Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Jordan and Cyprus (and sometimes, especially in a historical context, also including Turkey and Egypt, then part of the Ottoman Empire).
"I see by the newspapers that the Mediterranean Fleet is leaving Malta for the Levant."
Example
More examples"Dates and walnuts are commonly used in the filling for baklava made in the Levant."
Etymology
Borrowed from French levant (“rising, sun's point of rising”), form of lever (“to rise”), from Latin levō (“to rise”) (cf. also the present participle levāns), from levis (“light, not heavy”).
Transferral use of Levant, from French levant. Compare French faire voile en Levant (“to sail eastward”), literally: set the sail with the Levant, an easterly wind that blows in the Mediterranean Sea.
From French levant.
Related phrases
More for "levant"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.