leunen

Meaning

to lean

Concepts

lean

back up

rest against

Hyphenated as

leu‧nen

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈløː.nə(n)/

Etymology

The verb is the result of the merger of two middle dutch verbs that meant to 'lean':
* From Middle Dutch lēnen, from Old Dutch *linon, from Proto-West Germanic *hlinēn, from Proto-Germanic *hlināną.
* From Middle Dutch lênen - leinen, from Old Dutch lēnen - *leinen, from Proto-West Germanic *hlainijan, from Proto-Germanic *hlainijaną.
To avoid homonymy with the verb lenen (“to loan”), the word adopted a dialectal 'eu' (øː) vowel.