levain

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French levain.

Noun

levain (plural levains)

1. A starter dough for sourdough bread.

Synonyms

• mother dough
• mother sponge
• starter dough

Anagrams

• Lavine, alevin, alvine, leavin', valine, veinal, venial, vineal

French

levain

Etymology

Inherited from Old French levain, from Vulgar Latin *levāmen, from levō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lə.vɛ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

levain m (plural levains)

1. sourdough
2. leaven (any agent used to make dough rise)

Related terms

• levure

Further reading

• “levain”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• nivela