lion [ME] The lions known in parts of Europe and around the Mediterranean in early times were not African but Asiatic lions, rare animals in the 21st century. The name lion came into English from French, and ultimately from Greek leōn. The Anglo-Saxons had used the Latin form Leo, which was overtaken by lion for the animal, but which is still the name of a constellation and sign of the zodiac.

In ancient Rome lions and other wild beasts provided entertainment in the amphitheatres. Christians and other dissidents were left at their mercy in the arena, a practice behind our phrase to throw someone to the lions. After the terrible slaughter of British soldiers during the First World War, the phrase lions led by donkeys became popular as a way of encapsulating the idea that the men had been brave, but had been let down by their senior officers. It is not clear who first came up with the description, but the French troops defeated by the Prussians in 1871 were described as ‘lions led by packasses’. From medieval times until the opening of London Zoo in the 19th century, the Tower of London contained a menagerie of unusual animals, among which were lions. Not surprisingly, they were a great attraction for visitors to the city, and the phrase to see the lions sprang up with the meaning ‘to see the sights or attractions of a place’. From there a lion became a celebrity or noted person, a sense which gave us lionize, ‘to treat as a celebrity’, in the 1830s. See also beard.