Where does “lease” come from?
Lease comes from Old French lesser, from Latin laxo meaning "to loosen," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European roots related to loosening and releasing.
lease (English): To gather; To pick, select, pick out; to pick up;...
Definitions
- To gather; To pick, select, pick out; to pick up;...
Ancestry of “lease”, step by step
lease traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English leash
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | leash | A strap, cord or rope with which to restrain an... |
| 2 | Middle English | leesshe | — |
| 3 | Middle English | lees | — |
| 4 | Old French | lesse | — |
| 5 | Latin | laxa | second-person singular present active imperative... |
| 6 | Latin | laxo | I extend, expand; I open, make wide; I undo,... |
| 7 | Latin | laxus | wide, spacious, roomy; yielding; loose, slack,... |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)lēg- | to let go; weak, feeble; loose; dissolute, lewd;... |