| 1 | Middle English | leesshe | — |
| 2 | Middle English | lees | — |
| 3 | Old French | lesse | — |
| 4 | Latin | laxa | second-person singular present active imperative... |
| 5 | Latin | laxo | I extend, expand; I open, make wide; I undo,... |
| 6 | Latin | laxus | wide, spacious, roomy; yielding; loose, slack,... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)lēg- | to let go; weak, feeble; loose; dissolute, lewd;... |