What is dear; beloved. [Obs., except in poetry.] "My liefe mother." Chaucer. "My liefest liege." Shak. As thou art lief and dear. Tennyson called?

lief — Dear; beloved. [Obs., except in poetry.] "My liefe mother." Chaucer. "My liefest liege." Shak. As thou art lief and dear. Tennyson. (Webster's 1913.)