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ease

Pronunciation: /iːz/

The English word “ease” has 20 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. Lack of difficulty; the ability to do something easily.
  2. Freedom from pain, hardship, and annoyance, sometimes (derogatory, archaic) idleness, sloth.
  3. Freedom from worry and concern; peace; sometimes (derogatory, archaic) indifference.
  4. Freedom from effort; leisure, rest.
  5. Freedom from financial effort or worry; affluence.
  6. Freedom from embarrassment or awkwardness; grace.
  7. Followed by of or from: release from or reduction of pain, hardship, or annoyance.
  8. Release from intestinal discomfort: defecation.
  9. Release from constraint, obligation, or a constrained position.
  10. Additional space provided to allow greater movement.
  11. A convenience; a luxury.
  12. A relief; an easement.

verb

  1. To free (something) from pain, worry, agitation, etc.
  2. To alleviate, assuage or lessen (pain).
  3. To give respite to (someone).
  4. To loosen or slacken the tension on a line.
  5. To reduce the difficulty of (something).
  6. To move (something) slowly and carefully.
  7. To lessen in intensity.
  8. To proceed with little effort.

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;…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.