See Also: spleen(dictionary)
Spleen(medicine)
spleen(encyclopedia)
spleen(dictionary)
Spleen(health)
hot spleen(medicine)
segments of spleen(medicine)
spleen, ruptured(medicine)
spleen cyst(medicine)
spleen deoxyribonuclease(medicine)

spleen (iou)



spleen noun & verb. [spli:n] ME.
[Aphet. from Old French esplen from Latin splen from Greek splen, prob. rel. to splagkhnon (see SPLANCHNIC), Latin lien, Sanskrit plihan.]
A. noun.
Anatomy. An abdominal organ found in most vertebrates which serves as a reservoir for blood, and in humans is an ovoid structure situated on the left side below the stomach and forming part of the immune system. Also called lien, milt. ME.
b. spec. This organ regarded as (a) the seat of melancholy or moroseness (cf. sense 6 below); (b) the seat of passionate laughter or mirth. LME-M17.
Merriment, mirth; delight. rare (Shakes.). Only in L16.
(A) sudden impulse; (a) caprice. L16-E17.
a. Proud temper, passion; spirit, courage. L16-E17.
b. Impetuosity, eagerness. rare (Shakes.). Only in L16.
a. A fit of temper; a passion. arch. L16.
b. Violent ill temper, spite; irritability, peevishness. Now chiefly in a fit of spleen, vent one's spleen. L16.
D. Hogan Mouthing spleen about the..working-class cause.
c. An instance of this; a grudge, a spite. E17-E18.
Extreme lowness or depression of spirits; moroseness, melancholy (cf. sense 1b above). arch. M17.
C. Connolly To read aloud..Paradise Lost is the surest panacea for the spleen.
b. verb.
verb trans.
a. Regard with ill humour; bear a grudge towards. Only in 17.
b. Make angry or ill-tempered. L17-E19.
verb intrans. Become angry or ill-tempered. US. L19.
H. L. Wilson I spleened against some of his ways.
Comb.: spleen index, spleen rate Medicine the proportion of the population having enlarged spleens (as determined by palpation), esp. as an indicator of the incidence of malaria; spleen-stone a green stone formerly supposed to cure disorders of the spleen; spleenwort any of various small ferns of the genus Asplenium or the family Aspleniaceae; orig. spec. the rustyback fern, Ceterach officinarum.
spleenful adjective passionate; irritable, peevish: L16.
spleenish adjective (a) apt to disorder the spleen; (b) (now rare) somewhat splenetic: L16.
spleenless adjective (rare) LME.
spleeny adjective (now chiefly Scot. & dial.) spleenful, splenetic E17.