ease
Part of speech: noun
verb
Morphological type: simple
Topics: business
clothing
fashion
lifestyle
manufacturing
nautical
textiles
transport
Etymology: 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.
Inflected forms:
form: eases
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: eases
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: easing
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: eased
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: eased
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: Lack of difficulty; the ability to do something easily.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
usually
examples: He played the ukelele with ease.
The ease of lifting the weight, despite lack of skill, came from her pure strength.
Her young boy lifted a weight with ease too, as that one wasn't too heavy
The ease with which she passed all the exams surprised her.
gloss: Comfort, a state or quality lacking unpleasantness
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
usually
examples: She enjoyed the ease of living in a house where the servants did all the work.
gloss: Comfort, a state or quality lacking unpleasantness
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
usually
examples: The pension set her mind at ease.
There is ease in the soul of Slid and there be calms upon the sea; also, there be storms upon the sea and troubles in the soul of Slid, for the gods have many moods.
gloss: Comfort, a state or quality lacking unpleasantness
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
usually
examples: We took our ease on the patio.
gloss: Comfort, a state or quality lacking unpleasantness
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
usually
examples: His inheritance catapulted him into a life of ease.
gloss: Comfort, a state or quality lacking unpleasantness
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
usually
examples: She dealt with the faculty with combined authority and ease.
gloss: Relief, an end to discomfort
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
usually
examples: Take one pill every 12 hours to provide ease from pain.
gloss: Relief, an end to discomfort
pos: noun
tags: euphemistic
obsolete
uncountable
usually
gloss: Relief, an end to discomfort
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
usually
examples: At ease, soldier!
gloss: Relief, an end to discomfort
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
usually
examples: Add some ease to the waist measurement.
gloss: A convenience; a luxury.
pos: noun
tags: obsolete
uncountable
usually
gloss: A relief; an easement.
pos: noun
tags: obsolete
uncountable
usually
gloss: To free (something) from pain, worry, agitation, etc.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: He eased his conscience by confessing.
And ſure, although it was invented to eaſe his mynde of griefe, there be a number of caveats therein to forewarne other young gentlemen to foreſtand with good government their folowing yl fortunes; […]
Elyse Saugstad, a professional skier, wore a backpack equipped with an air bag, a relatively new and expensive part of the arsenal that backcountry users increasingly carry to ease their minds and increase survival odds in case of an avalanche.
gloss: To alleviate, assuage or lessen (pain).
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: Sunny / Yesterday my life was filled with rain / Sunny / You smiled at me and really eased the pain
gloss: To give respite to (someone).
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: The provision of extra staff eased their workload.
An extra rush-hour train has eased overcrowding of the former 5.39 p.m. to Salisbury; this now leaves at 5.43 and an additional electric service to Alton departs at 5.39 p.m.
gloss: To loosen or slacken the tension on a line.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: We eased the boom vang, then lowered the sail.
gloss: To reduce the difficulty of (something).
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: We had to ease the entry requirements.
I want to thank you all for easing my coming out.
gloss: To move (something) slowly and carefully.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: He eased the cork from the bottle.
Ease down off boulders; a jump may jar or sprain.
Giant oil-tankers can often be seen easing up and down Milford Haven, where a vast new port has been developed since the late 1950s.
gloss: To lessen in intensity.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: The pain eased overnight.
gloss: To proceed with little effort.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: The car eased onto the motorway.
gloss: To reduce speed.
pos: verb
examples: 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 Northallerton to York!—so that the engine was drastically eased.
"There's no other traffic on this line. We are 20 minutes ahead of time, so I'm easing back," says Waddicor as he approaches the crossing of HS2.
gloss: To take something from (a person), especially by robbery.
pos: verb
tags: archaic
slang
transitive
examples: 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.
So I tucked my violin under my arm, and sallied out after the old budgy ragman, determined to ease him of his load at the very first lonesome corner I could track him to.
Synonyms: lessen
reduce
Related words: disease
easy
easiness
Derived words: at ease
at one's ease
chapel of ease
Chapel of Ease
church of ease
closet of ease
court of ease
dis-ease
do ease
do one's ease
ease-and-comfort
ease-bred
easeful
easeless
ease-loving
easen
ease nature
ease of doing business index
ease of use
ease-room
easesome
evil at ease
heartsease
house of ease
ill at ease
ill-ease
little-ease
office of ease
seat of ease
stand at ease
steez
take one's ease
theater of ease
unease
well at ease
with ease
writ of ease
ease down
ease off
ease oneself
ease one's mind
easer
ease up
Translations:
lang: Bulgarian
word: спокойствие
roman: spokojstvie
lang: Bulgarian
word: безгрижие
roman: bezgrižie
lang: Czech
word: pohoda
lang: Finnish
word: mukavuus
lang: German
word: Behaglichkeit
lang: German
word: Bequemlichkeit
lang: German
word: Leichtigkeit
lang: Gothic
word: 𐌰𐌶𐌴𐍄𐌹
roman: azēti
lang: Hungarian
word: kényelem
lang: Irish
word: sástacht
lang: Old Irish
word: sádaile
lang: Old Irish
word: sádailecht
lang: Portuguese
word: conforto
lang: Romanian
word: confort
lang: Russian
word: споко́йствие
roman: spokójstvije
lang: Russian
word: поко́й
roman: pokój