ease
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ease
- /iːz/ UK
- /iz/ US
Sounds like ees, E's, 'e's · Rhymes with -iːz
Where it comes from
From Middle English ese, eise, aise, from Anglo-Norman ese (“ease”), from Old French eise, aise (“elbow room; opportunity”), of uncertain and obscure origin. Apparently related to Provençal ais, Italian agio and asio, Sicilian aciu and Portuguese azo. Sometimes ascribed to Vulgar Latin *āsia or *āsium, possibly from Latin ānsa (“handle, haft”) or Frankish *ansiju (“handle, loophole, eyelet; cup-handle; arms akimbo, elbow room”), but more often derived from Vulgar Latin *adjace(m), from Latin adjacēns (“adjacent, neighbouring”), present participle of adjaceō (“lie next to, border on”), though the forms and senses are difficult to trace clearly.
Alternatively, possibly from a non-Latin source such as Germanic or Celtic on the basis of the conflicting forms which appear in various Romance languages. Compare Old English īeþe (“easy”), Gothic 𐌰𐌶𐌴𐍄𐌹 (azēti, “ease; pleasure”), *𐌰𐌶𐌴𐍄𐍃 (*azēts, “easy”), Breton eaz, ez (“easy”), Irish adhais (“easy; leisure”). See also eath.
The verb is from Middle English esen, ultimately of the same origin.
noun eases
- Lack of difficulty; the ability to do something easily. He played the ukelele with ease.
- Freedom from pain, hardship, and annoyance, sometimes (derogatory, archaic) idleness, sloth. She enjoyed the ease of living in a house where the servants did all the work.
- Freedom from worry and concern; peace; sometimes (derogatory, archaic) indifference. The pension set her mind at ease.
- Freedom from effort; leisure, rest. We took our ease on the patio.
- Freedom from financial effort or worry; affluence. His inheritance catapulted him into a life of ease.
- Freedom from embarrassment or awkwardness; grace. She dealt with the faculty with combined authority and ease.
- Followed by of or from: release from or reduction of pain, hardship, or annoyance. Take one pill every 12 hours to provide ease from pain.
- Release from intestinal discomfort: defecation.
- Release from constraint, obligation, or a constrained position. At ease, soldier!
- Additional space provided to allow greater movement. Add some ease to the waist measurement.
- A convenience; a luxury.
- A relief; an easement.
verb eases · easing · eased
- To free (something) from pain, worry, agitation, etc. He eased his conscience by confessing.
- To alleviate, assuage or lessen (pain). Sunny / Yesterday my life was filled with rain / Sunny / You smiled at me and really eased the pain
- To give respite to (someone). The provision of extra staff eased their workload.
- To loosen or slacken the tension on a line. We eased the boom vang, then lowered the sail.
- To reduce the difficulty of (something). We had to ease the entry requirements.
- To move (something) slowly and carefully. He eased the cork from the bottle.
- To lessen in intensity. The pain eased overnight.
- To proceed with little effort. The car eased onto the motorway.
- To reduce speed. But from Northallerton No. 46143 reached 65½ m.p.h. by Otterington, 73 by Thirsk, 79½ by Pilmoor, and 82½ by Alne and was still accelerating when it was decided on the footplate that the train was getting too much ahead of time—and no wonder, with 40 min. allowed for the level 30.0 miles from Northa
- To take something from (a person), especially by robbery. Coming up to the thief they eased him of his late acquisitions, which Redmond, restoring to the right owner, bound him over to prosecute the robber at the next assizes.
