Obs. exc. Sc. Also 3 lefsum, leofsum, 6 lesum, 8 leisum. [Early ME. leofsum, f. leof LIEF a. + -sum -SOME.] Lovable; pleasing; pleasant.
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 181. Wowe beð wunsum þeih hit ne bie naht lefsum.
a. 1225. Juliana, 17. Towart te liuiende godd mi leofsume leofmon.
1535. Stewart, Cron. Scot. (1858), I. 195. He culd nocht find that he had far misgane, Sen lesum wes to haif ma wyffis nor ane.
1792. Burns, ‘In simmer when the hay was mawn,’ v. The tender heart o’ leesome luve, The gowd and siller canna buy.
a. 1800[?]. Thoma o Yonderdale, x. in Child, Ballads (1892), IV. 410/1. Fair and leesome blew the wind.
1819. W. Tennant, Papistry Storm’d (1827), 62. Some gentle cushie-dows, That saw The leesome la’rick’s wae.
¶ b. Leesome lane: a variation of LEE-LANE. (Cf. LEEFUL b.)
1824. Scott, Redgauntlet, let. xi. There sat the Laird his leesome lane.
