leav·en /ˈlɛvən/
  酵素,酵母(vt.)使發酵,影響
  Leav·en, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Leavened p. pr. & vb. n. Leavening ]
  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. To imbue; to infect; to vitiate.
     With these and the like deceivable doctrines, he leavens also his prayer.   --Milton.
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  Leav·en n.
  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. 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.
  leaven
       n 1: a substance used to produce fermentation in dough or a
            liquid [syn: leavening]
       2: an influence that works subtly to lighten or modify
          something; "his sermons benefited from a leavening of
          humor" [syn: leavening]
       v : cause to puff up with a leaven; "unleavened bread" [syn: raise,
            prove]
  Leaven
     (1.) Heb. seor (Ex. 12:15, 19; 13:7; Lev. 2:11), the remnant of
     dough from the preceding baking which had fermented and become
     acid.
       (2.) Heb. hamets, properly "ferment." In Num. 6:3, "vinegar of
     wine" is more correctly "fermented wine." In Ex. 13:7, the
     proper rendering would be, "Unfermented things [Heb. matstsoth]
     shall be consumed during the seven days; and there shall not be
     seen with thee fermented things [hamets], and there shall not be
     seen with thee leavened mass [seor] in all thy borders." The
     chemical definition of ferment or yeast is "a substance in a
     state of putrefaction, the atoms of which are in a continual
     motion."
       The use of leaven was strictly forbidden in all offerings made
     to the Lord by fire (Lev. 2:11; 7:12; 8:2; Num. 6:15). Its
     secretly penetrating and diffusive power is referred to in 1
     Cor. 5:6. In this respect it is used to illustrate the growth of
     the kingdom of heaven both in the individual heart and in the
     world (Matt. 13:33). It is a figure also of corruptness and of
     perverseness of heart and life (Matt. 16:6, 11; Mark 8:15; 1
     Cor. 5:7, 8).