Associations to the word «Leaven»

Wiktionary

LEAVEN, noun. Any agent used to make dough rise or to have a similar effect on baked goods.
LEAVEN, noun. (figurative) Anything that makes a general assimilating change in the mass.
LEAVEN, verb. (transitive) To add a leavening agent.
LEAVEN, verb. (transitive) To cause to rise by fermentation.
LEAVEN, verb. (transitive) (figuratively) To temper an action or decision.
LEAVEN, verb. To imbue; to infect; to vitiate.

Dictionary definition

LEAVEN, noun. A substance used to produce fermentation in dough or a liquid.
LEAVEN, noun. An influence that works subtly to lighten or modify something; "his sermons benefited from a leavening of humor".
LEAVEN, verb. Cause to puff up with a leaven; "unleavened bread".

Wise words

Words are always getting conventionalized to some secondary meaning. It is one of the works of poetry to take the truants in custody and bring them back to their right senses.
William Butler Yeats