lease English · revision 7103

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1384|origins=la laxo}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /liːs/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English lese, [[bor|xno|les|t=a letting]], Old French lais, leis, a verbal noun from [[m|fro|laissier|t=to let, leave]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from Latin [[m|la|laxo|alt=laxāre|t=to loosen]], from [[m|la|laxus|t=loose]] (see [[lax]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from PIE [[ine-pro|*sleg-|t=to be slack]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A contract conveying property for a fixed term and rent: about 1384 in Barnhart, the late 14th century in Etymonline.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The period of time a lease covers is also an early sense.^(OED 1989) Figuratively, especially of life, as ''a new lease of life'', is from the 1580s.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The verb, to take a lease, is late 15th-century, and to grant temporary possession at a fixed rate from the 1560s.^(Etymonline) [[lessor|alt=Lessor]] and [[lessee]] keep the Anglo-French vowel.^(Etymonline) In Australia, a lease is also land leased for mining (1890).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1384 – a lease.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * late 15th century – to take a lease.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1560s – to grant a lease.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1580s – a lease of life.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1890 – a mining lease (Australia).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A contract by which one party lets property, such as land or a building, to another for a set time and rent.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The period of such a contract.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To let or rent property by a lease.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To take or hold property by a lease.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[leasable]]

+ * [[leaser]]

+ * [[leaseless]]

+ * [[leaseholder]]

+ * [[prelease]]

+ * [[leasehold]]

+ * [[lessee]]

+ * [[lessor]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[release]]

+ * [[lax]]

+ * [[relax]]

+ * [[leash]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Lease also survives in dialect as an Old English word for pasture or common land, [[m|ang|lǣs]] (before 1000),^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024) and as a verb, to glean, from Old English lesan.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}