Lied, lēt, n. a German ballad, secular or sacred, fitted for singing and often set to music. [Ger.; cf. A.S. leóth, a song.]
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.]
Liege, lēj, adj. free, except as within the relations of vassal and feudal lord: under a feudal tenure.—n. one under a feudal tenure: a vassal: a lord or superior, or one who has lieges.—n. Liege′dom, allegiance.—adj. Liege′less, not subject to a superior.—n. Liege′man, a vassal: a subject. [O. Fr. lige, prob. from Old High Ger. ledic, free (Ger. ledig, free, unfettered), līdan, to depart.]
Lien, lī′en, or lē′en, n. (law) a right in one to retain the property of another to pay a claim. [Fr., tie, band—L. ligamen—ligāre, to bind.]
Lien, lī′en (B.), pa.p. of lie, to lie down.
Lientery, lī′en-ter-i, n. a form of diarrhœa, with frequent liquid evacuations in which the food is discharged undigested.—adj. Lienter′ic. [Gr. leios, smooth, enteron, an intestine.]
Lierne, li-ern′, n. (archit.) a cross-rib or branch-rib in vaulting. [Fr.]
Lieu, lū, n. place, stead, chiefly in the phrase 'in lieu of.' [Fr.,—L. locus, place.]
Lieutenant, lef-ten′ant, n. one representing or performing the work of another: an officer holding the place of another in his absence: a commissioned officer in the army next below a captain, or in the navy next below a commander and ranking with captain in the army: one holding a place next in rank to a superior, as in the compounds Lieuten′ant-col′onel, Lieuten′ant-gen′eral.—ns. Lieuten′ancy, Lieuten′antship, office or commission of a lieutenant: the body of lieutenants; Lieuten′ant-gov′ernor, in India, the name of the chief official in the provinces of Bengal, Behar, and Orissa, the North-western Provinces, and Oudh, Punjab, and Delhi; Lieuten′ant-gov′ernorship; Lieuten′antry (Shak.), lieutenancy; Lord′-lieuten′ant, the title of the viceroy of Ireland: in the British Isles, a permanent governor of a county appointed by the sovereign, usually a peer or other large land-owner, at the head of the magistracy and the chief executive authority; Sub′-lieuten′ant, formerly mate or passed midshipman, now the intermediate rank in the navy between midshipman and lieutenant.—Field-marshal lieutenant (see Field-marshal). [Fr.; cf. Lieu and Tenant.]
