English - Etymology 7

From leash

Noun

lease

1. The place at which the warp-threads cross on a loom.

English - Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /liːs/
• Rhymes: -iːs

English - Etymology 1

From Middle English lesen, from Old English lesan (“to collect, pick, select, gather”), from Proto-Germanic *lesaną (“to gather”), from Proto-Indo-European *les- (“to gather”). Cognate with Scots lease (“to arrange, gather”), West Frisian lêze (“to read”), Eastern Frisian lesen (“to gather, read”), Dutch lezen (“to gather, read”), German lesen (“to gather, read”), Danish læse (“to collect, read”).

Verb

lease (third-person singular simple present leases, present participle leasing, simple past and past participle leased)

1. (transitive, chiefly dialectal) to gather.
2. (transitive, chiefly dialectal) to pick, select, pick out; to pick up.
3. (transitive, chiefly dialectal) to glean.
4. (intransitive, chiefly dialectal) to glean, gather up leavings.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Dryden to this entry?)

English - Etymology 2

From Middle English leas, lees, les, from Old English lēas (“false, void, loose”), from Proto-Germanic *lausaz (“loose, free”), from Proto-Indo-European *lū- (“to untie, set free, sever”). Cognate with German los (“loose”), Swedish lös (“loose”). More at loose.

Adjective

lease (comparative leaser or more lease, superlative leasest or most lease)

1. false; lying; deceptive

Related terms

• leasing

Noun

lease (plural leases)

1. falsehood; a lie

English - Etymology 3

From Middle English *leasien, from Old English lēasian (“to lie, tell lies”), from lēas (“falsehood, lying, untruth, mistake”).

Verb

lease (third-person singular simple present leases, present participle leasing, simple past and past participle leased)

1. (transitive, intransitive, UK dialectal) To tell lies; tell lies about; slander; calumniate.

English - Etymology 4

From Middle English lese, from Old English lǣs (“meadow”), from Proto-Germanic *lēswō (“meadow”), from Proto-Indo-European *lēy-, *lēid- (“to leave, let”). Cognate with Old Saxon lēsa (“meadow”). See also leasow.

Alternative forms

• leaze

Noun

lease (plural leases)

1. an open pasture or common
   • 1928, Thomas Hardy, He Never Expected Much:

     Since as a child I used to lie

     Upon the leaze and watch the sky,

     Never, I own, expected I

     That life would all be fair.

English - Etymology 5

From Middle English lesen, from Old English līesan (“to loosen, release, redeem, deliver, liberate”), from Proto-Germanic *lausijaną (“to release, loosen”), from Proto-Indo-European *leu- (“to cut, solve, separate”). Cognate with Dutch lozen (“to drain, discharge”), German lösen (“to release”), Swedish lösa (“to solve”), Icelandic leysa (“to solve”).

Alternative forms

• leese (Scotland)

Verb

lease (third-person singular simple present leases, present participle leasing, simple past and past participle leased)

1. (transitive, UK dialectal) To release; let go; unloose.

English - Etymology 6

From Middle English *lesen, from Anglo-Norman *leser, Old French lesser, laisier (“to let, let go”), from Medieval Latin lassō (“to let, let go”), partly from Latin laxō (“to loose”); partly from Old High German lāzzan, lāzan (German lassen, “to let, let go, release”). Cognate with Old English lǣtan (“to allow, let go, leave, rent”). More at let.

Verb

lease (third-person singular simple present leases, present participle leasing, simple past and past participle leased)

1. (transitive) To operate or live in some property or land through purchasing a long-term contract (or leasehold) from the owner (or freeholder).
2. (transitive) To take or hold by lease.
3. (intransitive) To grant a lease; to let or rent.

Translations

Noun

lease (plural leases)

1. A contract granting use or occupation of property during a specified period in exchange for a specified rent
2. The period of such a contract
3. A leasehold

Translations

Related terms

• lessor, lessee

English - Anagrams

• easel

Dutch - Verb

lease

1. first-person singular present indicative of leasen
2. (archaic) singular present subjunctive of leasen
3. imperative of leasen

Rhyme