lithen
/ˈlaɪðən/
lithen verb: to make lithe, soften; to ease, mitigate.
Verb (1)
lithen (third-person singular simple present lithens, present participle lithening, simple past and past participle lithened)
- To make lithe, soften; to ease, mitigate
- “Nay, daughter, when thou art as old as Notte it will be time enough to reckon years!” returned the dark-skinned sybil, lithening the stiff folds of a viper in a blue oil, which cast out a noisome perfume as she stirred it.1874, Emma Robinson, Cæsar Borgia
- "[…] I only know that for well-nigh all the stricken he hath lithened the fever, and that he hath recalled to life many an one whom the chirurgeon had given over to the chaplain."1914, Mary Johnston, Sir Mortimer, page 278
Verb (2)
lithen (third-person singular simple present lithens, present participle lithening, simple past and past participle lithened)
Forms of lithen
| third-person singular present | lithens |
|---|---|
| present participle | lithening |
| past participle | lithened |
| past | lithened |
Origin of lithen
From Middle English *lithnien, equivalent to lithe + -en.
From lithe (“a mixture of oatmeal and water”) + -en.
Questions about lithen
- What does lithen mean?
- Lithen means to make lithe, soften; to ease, mitigate.
- What part of speech is lithen?
- Lithen is a verb.
- How do you pronounce lithen?
- Lithen is pronounced /ˈlaɪðən/.
- What is the past tense of lithen?
- The past tense of lithen is lithened.
Words near lithen in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: lithen (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “lithen.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/lithen. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.