easement

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English esement, also aisement,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French aisement (“convenience, ease, comfort”), the Anglo-Norman forms being eisement, easement and esement,^[5][6][7][8] from aisier (“to ease”), from aise (“ease”), with the suffix -ment.^{[5][6][9][10]} Merriam-Webster Unabridged also names Middle French aaisement.^[3] The Anglo-Norman noun is recorded from 1155, with senses that include ease, convenience, relief and the legal easement;^[11] the OED dates the French sense "right to use a thing, land" to the 13th century, and "privy" to 1336.^[5] The OED compares post-classical Medieval Latin aisiamentum, frequent in British sources from the 12th century for a right enjoyed in another's land.^[5][2] It is related to ease.^[6][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Something that gives ease, comfort or help: 1389, in a Scottish document of the Wemyss family.^[5] Etymonline gives the late 14th century, with the sense "compensation, redress",^[6] and Merriam-Webster Unabridged the 14th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the word covered the comforts of life, lodging, food and drink, and, in law, the right of using something not one's own, such as a pasture, a well or a waterway.^[2] Chaucer used esement twice,^[12] meaning redress or benefit.^[12][13] The legal sense, a right to make limited use of land belonging to someone else, is recorded from 1405,^[5][6] as is the sense "redress of a grievance, compensation", which died out after 1577.^[5] The sense of lodging and refreshment lasted until about 1820,^[5][3] and a house of easement (from before 1438) was a privy.^[5] Johnson (1755) gave "assistance; support; relief from expences" and, in law, a right one neighbour has over another's ground, such as a way through it.^[14] The modern general sense, relief from pain or the easing of a burden, is recorded from 1533.^[5] In 19th-century dialect, in Scotland, Ireland and counties such as Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cheshire and Somerset, an easement was relief from pain or a remedy that gave it.^[15]

Timeline

• 1389 – something that gives ease, comfort or help.^[5]
• before 1400 – refreshment with food and rest; lodging (obsolete by 1820).^[5][2]
• 1405 – a legal right to use another's land.^[5][6]
• 1405 – redress of a grievance, compensation (obsolete by 1577).^[5]
• before 1438 – relieving the body, as in house of easement, a privy.^[5]
• 1533 – relief from pain or from any burden.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. In law, a right to make limited use of land that belongs to someone else, such as crossing it to reach one's own property: The farm has an easement allowing access to the lake.^[16][3][5]
2. The act of easing or relieving, or something that brings relief from pain or a burden: an easement of the restrictions.^[16][3][5]
3. In building, a curved piece used to avoid an abrupt change of direction, as in a handrail.^[3]
4. (obsolete, before 1400–1820) Food and lodging; refreshment.^[3][5]

Related words

• ease
• easy
• disease

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
12. ^ a b Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
13. ^ Skeat, W. W., ed. (1894), The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, vol. VI: Glossarial Index, Oxford: Clarendon Press
14. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
15. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
16. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins