Where does “levain” come from?
levain (French) comes from Old French levain, from Latin levāmen, from Latin levō, from Latin lēvis, from Proto-Italic leɣʷis, from Proto-Indo-European h₁léngʰus, from Proto-Indo-European h₁lengʷʰ- — light.
levain (French): sourdough; leaven
Ancestry of “levain”, step by step