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Entry 4 senses · 2 variants Webster, 1913

Leaven

/lĕv'-ən/ · Leav·en · IPA /ˈlɛv.ən/
01 n. Any substance that produces, or is designed to produce, fermentation, as in dough or liquids; esp., a portion of fermenting dough, which, m…
  1. 1.
    Any substance that produces, or is designed to produce, fermentation, as in dough or liquids; esp., a portion of fermenting dough, which, mixed with a larger quantity of dough, produces a general change in the mass, and renders it light; yeast; barm.
  2. 2.
    Anything which makes a general assimilating (especially a corrupting) change in the mass.
    “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” — Luke xii. 1.
02 v. t. To make light by the action of leaven; to cause to ferment.
imp. & p. p. Leavened; p. pr. & vb. n. Leavening
  1. 1.
    To make light by the action of leaven; to cause to ferment.
    “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” — 1 Cor. v. 6.
  2. 2.
    To imbue; to infect; to vitiate.
    “With these and the like deceivable doctrines, he leavens also his prayer.” — Milton.