ease English · revision 5831

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=a1225|origins=fro aise}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /iːz/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English eise, ese, [[bor|fro|aise|t=comfort, pleasure; opportunity; elbow-room]] (Anglo-French ese),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) of uncertain origin.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Watkins, the MWU, Hoad and the SOED derive it from [[la|adiacēns|t=lying near]], the participle of adiacēre (see [[adjacent]]),^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) but Barnhart notes that the sounds and the gap in meaning argue against this.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Opportunity or means, and comfort or convenience: before 1225 in the OED, probably before 1200 in Barnhart.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Absence of pain is from before 1225, and leisure, freedom from toil, from 1393.^(OED 1989) ''At ease'' is from the late 14th century,^(Etymonline) and as a military order, standing at ease, from 1802.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) Facility, as in ''with ease'', is from 1610.^(OED 1989) The verb meant to help about 1300, and to relieve pain or care from the mid-14th century;^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) to make less difficult is from the 1630s, and to relax one's efforts from 1863, with ''ease up'' by 1907.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * a1225 – opportunity; comfort.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1300 – the verb, to help.^(Etymonline)

+ * mid-14th century – to relieve pain.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1610 – ''with ease''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1802 – ''at ease'' (military).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1863 – to relax one's efforts.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Lack of difficulty: ''she won with ease''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Freedom from worry, pain or effort; [[comfort]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Relaxed, [[natural]] manner.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make pain or worry less.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To become or make less severe or intense.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To move slowly and carefully: ''eased the box into place''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[easeful]]

+ * [[easefully]]

+ * [[heartsease]]

+ * [[misease]]

+ * [[unease]]

+ * [[chapel of ease]]

+ * [[ill at ease]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[disease]]

+ * [[easy]]

+ * [[easiness]]

+ * [[adjacent]]

+ * [[malaise]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In Yorkshire dialect, a different ease means to splash with mud.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}