English
ease
Ease comes from Middle English ese, from Anglo-Norman ese, from Old French eise ‘elbow room’, of uncertain and obscure origin.
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400eise‘elbow room; opportunity’
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400ese‘ease’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
- Englishearliest quotation 1576ease
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400eise‘elbow room; opportunity’
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400ese‘ease’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
- Englishearliest quotation 1576ease
Earliest quotation: 1576, George Whetstone, The Ortchard of Repentance: […]: “And ſure, although it was invented to eaſe his…”
The story
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.disputed Scholars disagree here; the competing view is quoted as the source gives it.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(H)yeh₁- ‘to throw’
year, hour, trajectory, catheter, abject, enema, jut, iambic, jetsam, 38 more
through Proto-Indo-European *(H)yéh₁kt ~ *(H)ih₁ként
objective, projection, objection, projectile, objector, dejection, 24 more
through Latin iaciō ‘to throw, hurl, cast, fling’
project, object, jet, injection, jess, inject, conjecture, adjective, ejection, jetty, eject, ejaculation, ejaculate, jettison, subjection, interject, 32 more
through Latin iaceō ‘to lie prostrate, lie down’
through Latin adiacēns ‘adjacent, adjoining, neighbouring’
through Middle English ese
Today it means
noun Lack of difficulty; the ability to do something easily.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old French eise / ease