EXAMPLES FROM THE WEB FOR LEAVEN
He compares it to little things, to a tiny seed, to a handful of leaven, to a pearl.
I could feel the leaven working in his soul, you understand.
It is hard to say if there might not have been some leaven of "pique" in these reasonings.
One can hardly conceive how disagreeable this leaven was to the taste.
The leaven of the psychology of independence was getting in its work.
Science has already to some extent leavened the world; it will leaven it more and more.
They contain the leaven of the faith, life and spirit of Protestantism.
They cannot draw together, as in England, and leaven the lump.
All of our tasks should be sweetened and glorified with the leaven of good humor.
The kingdom of God works like a leaven, you know, my dear young friend.
WORD ORIGIN
mid-14c., from Old French levain "leaven, sourdough" (12c.), from Latin levamen "alleviation, mitigation," but used in Vulgar Latin in its literal sense of "a means of lifting, something that raises," from levare "to raise" (see lever). Figurative use from late 14c.