ease

ease
{{11}}ease (n.) early 13c., from O.Fr. aise "comfort, pleasure, well-being; opportunity," of unknown origin, despite attempts to link it to various Latin verbs.
The earliest senses in French appear to be 1. "elbow-room" (from an 11th century Hebrew-French glossary) and 2. "opportunity." This led Sophus Bugge to suggest an origin in V.L. asa, a shortened form of L. ansa "handle," which could be used in the figurative sense of "opportunity, occasion," as well as being a possible synonym for "elbow," since L. ansatus "furnished with handles" also was used to mean "having the arms akimbo." OED editors report this theory, and write, "This is not very satisfactory, but it does not appear that any equally plausible alternative has yet been proposed."
{{12}}ease (v.) c.1300, "to help, assist," see EASE (Cf. ease) (n.). Meaning "to give ease" is from mid-14c.; the sense of "to relax one's efforts" is from 1863. Farmer reports ease in a slang sense of “to content a woman” sexually, with an 1861 date. Related: Eased; easing.

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • Ease — ([=e]z), n. [OE. ese, eise, F. aise; akin to Pr. ais, aise, OIt. asio, It. agio; of uncertain origin; cf. L. ansa handle, occasion, opportunity. Cf. {Agio}, {Disease}.] 1. Satisfaction; pleasure; hence, accommodation; entertainment. [Obs.] [1913… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • ease — [iːz] verb 1. [intransitive, transitive] if limits, rules, restrictions etc are eased, or someone eases them, they become less strict: • India is easing rules for joint ventures with foreign concerns. 2. [intransitive, transitive] if interest… …   Financial and business terms

  • Ease — ([=e]z), v. t. & i. [imp. & p. p. {Eased} ([=e]zd); p. pr. & vb. n. {Easing}.] [OE. esen, eisen, OF. aisier. See {Ease}, n.] 1. To free from anything that pains, disquiets, or oppresses; to relieve from toil or care; to give rest, repose, or… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Ease — may refer to:*Ease (programming language) *Ease (novel), by Patrick Gale *EASE/ACCESS, an experiment which flew on the Space Shuttle in 1985 *Methylone, a substitute for the drug ecstacy, marketed briefly in New Zealand under the brand name… …   Wikipedia

  • Ease — 0.4 unter Ubuntu 10.10 Basisdaten Entwickler Nate Stedman, Stéphane Maniaci A …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • ease — [ēz] n. [ME ese < OFr aise < VL * adjaces < L adjacens, lying nearby, hence easy to reach: see ADJACENT] 1. freedom from pain, worry, or trouble; comfort 2. freedom from stiffness, formality, or awkwardness; natural, easy manner; poise 3 …   English World dictionary

  • ease up on — [phrasal verb] 1 a ease up on (someone) : to treat (someone) in a less harsh or demanding way The students might respond better if the teacher eased up on them a little. 1 b ease up on (something) : to apply less pressure to ( …   Useful english dictionary

  • ease — [n1] peace, quiet; lack of difficulty affluence, ataraxia, bed of roses*, calm, calmness, comfort, content, contentment, easiness, enjoyment, gratification, happiness, idleness, inactivity, inertia, inertness, leisure, luxury, passivity, peace of …   New thesaurus

  • ease — ► NOUN 1) absence of difficulty or effort. 2) freedom from worries or problems. ► VERB 1) make or become less serious or severe. 2) move carefully or gradually. 3) (ease off/up) do something with more moderation …   English terms dictionary

  • Ease Up — is an EP by Mike Paradinas released in 2005 under his main moniker, µ ziq . Track listing # Ease Up 7.00 # Wergle the Proud 4.01 # Ease Up V.I.P. 12.28 …   Wikipedia

  • ease\ up — • ease off • ease up v To make or become less nervous; relax; work easier. When the boss realized that John had been overworking, he eased off his load. With success and prosperity, Mr. Smith was able to ease off. Compare: let up(3) …   Словарь американских идиом

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