Meaning
2 senses(often, pejorative)A paramour.
(archaic)One beloved; a lover, a sweetheart of either sex (especially a secret lover; a gallant or mistress).
Origin
From Middle English lemman, variant of leofman, from Old English *lēofmann ("lover; sweethFrom Middle English lemman, variant of leofman, from Old English *lēofmann ("lover; sweetheart"; attested as a personal name), equivalent to lief + man ("beloved person"). In the past, incorrectly asserted to derive from French l'aimant (“the [male] lover”).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.