leni

a. [ L. leniens, -entis, p. pr. of lenire to soften, fr. lenis soft, mild. Cf. Lithe. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Relaxing; emollient; softening; assuasive; -- sometimes followed by of. “Lenient of grief.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

O&unr_;&unr_; relax the fibers, are lenient, balsamic. Arbuthnot. [ 1913 Webster ]

Time, that on all things lays his lenient hand. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Mild; clement; merciful; not rigorous or severe; as, a lenient disposition; a lenient judge or sentence. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Med.) A lenitive; an emollient. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a lenient manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ L. lenis soft, mild + -fy: cf. F. lénifier. ] To assuage; to soften; to mitigate; to alleviate. Bacon. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. lenimentum: cf. OF. leniment. See Lenient. ] An assuasive. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. n. A city in the European part of Soviet Russia; the former capital of Russia. The name was formerly St. Petersburg and Petrograd, and was changed back to Saint Petersburg (Sankt Peterburg in Russian) in 1992.
Syn. -- St. Petersburg, Peterburg, Petrograd, Saint Petersburg. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

prop. n. a form of communism based on the writings of Marx and Lenin; called also Marxism-Leninism.
Syn. -- bolshevism, collectivism, Marxism-Leninism, Marxism, Sovietism, sovietism. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ Cf. F. lénitif. ] 1. (Med.) (a) A medicine or application that has the quality of easing pain or protecting from the action of irritants. (b) A mild purgative; a laxative. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which softens or mitigates; that which tends to allay passion, excitement, or pain; a palliative. [ 1913 Webster ]

There is one sweet lenitive at least for evils, which Nature holds out; so I took it kindly at her hands, and fell asleep. Sterne. [ 1913 Webster ]