Etymology Explorer › English

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

  1. To gather; To pick, select, pick out; to pick up;...

Ancestry of “lease”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishleashA strap, cord or rope with which to restrain an...
2Middle Englishleesshe—
3Middle Englishlees—
4Old Frenchlesse—
5Latinlaxasecond-person singular present active imperative...
6LatinlaxoI extend, expand; I open, make wide; I undo,...
7Latinlaxuswide, spacious, roomy; yielding; loose, slack,...
8Proto-Indo-European(s)lēg-to let go; weak, feeble; loose; dissolute, lewd;...

Words derived from “lease”

  • leasing
  • leasehold
  • leaseback
  • sublease
  • leaseholder
  • leaser
  • underlease
  • leasee
  • leasable
  • leaseable
  • prelease
  • leazing
  • leazings
  • unleasable
  • leaseability
  • wedlease
  • subleaser
  • leaze
  • leasest
  • nonleasable
  • leasing
  • лизинг
  • leasen
  • lease
Every word from Proto-Indo-European (s)lēg- →