Word Confusion: Lean versus Lien

Posted February 24, 2022 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

That house may be under a lien, but it certainly isn’t under a lean in this heterograph (a subset of homophone), lean versus lien.

Hmmm, I could be wrong about that. Maybe the house does have a lean-to over it? No, no, the context is all wrong. The house could be leaning and needed to be repaired but the owners couldn’t pay for the repairs and so the builders put a lien on it . . .

No, no, that was definitely not the context.

To avoid an issue like this, be aware that lean is much more complex than lien. Lean can be an adjective, a noun, or a verb and refer to a physical stance, an assessment of fat, a preference, or a dependability.

Lien is one thing alone, a noun that refers to a debt. That’s it.

Debt-wise, you may be interested in exploring “Borrow vs Lend vs Loan“.

Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noir for you from either end.

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Lean	Lien
Victorian Lean-to Greenhouse in the Walled Garden, Quex Park, near Acol, Kent, Great Britain, by Pam Fray is under the CC BY-SA 2.0 license, via Geograph.org.uk.	Home Locked Up by dinizagenda is under the Pixabay License, via Pixabay. — There’s a lien against this house!
Part of Grammar:
Adjective ¹; Noun ¹, ²; Verb ², intransitive & transitive Plural for the noun and third person present verb: leans Past tense or past participle: leaned, leant [British] Gerund or present participle: leaning	Noun Plural: liens
Adjective: [Of a person or animal] Thin, especially healthily so ¹ Having no superfluous fat [Of meat] Containing little fat [Of an industry or company] Efficient and with no waste [Of an activity or a period of time] Offering little reward, substance, or nourishment Meager [Of a vaporized fuel mixture] Having a high proportion of air Noun: The lean part of meat ¹ A deviation from the perpendicular ² An inclination Verb, intransitive: [With adverbial] Be in or move into a sloping position ² [lean against, lean on] Incline from the perpendicular and rest for support against (something) Slant To incline in feeling, opinion, action, etc. [Usually followed by on or upon] To depend or rely Verb, transitive: [lean something against, lean something on] Cause something to rest against ² Prop To incline or bend	[Law] A right to keep possession of property belonging to another person until a debt owed by that person is discharged
Examples:
Adjective: Check out his lean, muscular body. If you must eat bacon, at least eat lean bacon. He made leaner government a campaign theme. We need to plan for the lean winter months. Do keep a small reserve to tide you over the lean years. A lean air-to-fuel ratio occurs when the fuel trim is above 10%. Noun: The man who eats no fat and the wife who eats no lean. Traditionally, meat with yellow fat and dark lean has been deemed a lesser quality product at the retail level. Max Conrad used lean of peak to set distance records in his Comanche in the 1960s when he flew over 7,600 miles nonstop. The vehicle has a definite lean to the left. The Tower of Pisa has a pronounced lean. Verb, intransitive: He leaned back in his chair. I saw a man leaning against the wall. She leaned out the window. The post leans to the left. The building leaned sharply before renovation. My brother had a lean toward socialism. She was someone he could lean on in an emergency. Verb, transitive: He leaned his elbows on the table. He leaned his head forward. Just lean the chair against the railing.	They shall be entitled to a lien on any lot sold. Make sure there are no liens against the car. They may assert a lien claim on your property. The solicitors have claimed a lien on their file until their fees, which are substantial, are paid. The lien may be claimed and maintained so long as the article remains in the possession of the lien claimant Mrs. D. will transfer her interest in the matrimonial home to Mr. D. provided that she can lift the Legal Aid liens on the property to a payment agreement form.
Derivatives:
Adverb: leanly Noun: lean-to, leaning, leanness	Adjective: lienable Noun: lienor
Phrasal Verb
lean in lean into lean into something lean on lean on someone lean on something lean to lean toward lean toward something
History of the Word:
Old English hlǣne is of Germanic origin. Old English hleonian, hlinian, is of Germanic origin and related to the Dutch leunen and the German lehnen, from an Indo-European root shared by the Latin inclinare and the Greek klinein.	Mid-16th century, from the French, via the Old French loien from the Latin ligamen meaning bond, from ligare meaning to bind.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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