ease
UK /iːz/ · US /iz/ noun, verb
- noun Lack of difficulty; the ability to do something easily. “He played the ukelele with ease.”
- noun Freedom from pain, hardship, and annoyance, sometimes (derogatory, archaic) idleness, sloth. “She enjoyed the ease of living in a house where the servants did all the work.”
- noun Freedom from worry and concern; peace; sometimes (derogatory, archaic) indifference. “The pension set her mind at ease.”
- noun Freedom from effort; leisure, rest. “We took our ease on the patio.”
- noun Freedom from financial effort or worry; affluence. “His inheritance catapulted him into a life of ease.”
- noun Freedom from embarrassment or awkwardness; grace. “She dealt with the faculty with combined authority and ease.”
- noun Followed by of or from: release from or reduction of pain, hardship, or annoyance. “Take one pill every 12 hours to provide ease from pain.”
- noun (euphemistic, obsolete) Release from intestinal discomfort: defecation.
- verb (transitive) To free (something) from pain, worry, agitation, etc. “He eased his conscience by confessing.”
- verb (transitive) To alleviate, assuage or lessen (pain).
- verb (transitive) To give respite to (someone). “The provision of extra staff eased their workload.”
- verb (nautical, transitive) To loosen or slacken the tension on a line. “We eased the boom vang, then lowered the sail.”
- verb (transitive) To reduce the difficulty of (something). “We had to ease the entry requirements.”
- verb (transitive) To move (something) slowly and carefully. “He eased the cork from the bottle.”
- verb (intransitive) To lessen in intensity. “The pain eased overnight.”
- verb (intransitive) To proceed with little effort. “The car eased onto the motorway.”
Synonyms
easiness facility lightness comfort peace indolency inexertion peace of mind free time leisure relaxation rest fortune plenty abundance affluence cheese substance Mammon opulence simplicity simpleness relief informality repose facilitate alleviate still allay relieve
Antonyms
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.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Satisfaction; pleasure; hence, accommodation; entertainment.
- noun Freedom from anything that pains or troubles; as: (a) Relief from labor or effort; rest; quiet; relaxation; as, ease of body.
- verb To free from anything that pains, disquiets, or oppresses; to relieve from toil or care; to give rest, repose, or tranquility to; - -often with of; as, to ease of pain; ease the body or mind.
- verb To render less painful or oppressive; to mitigate; to alleviate.
Etymology [OE. ese, eise, F. aise; akin to Pr. ais, aise, OIt. asio, It. agio; of uncertain origin; cf. L. ansa handle, occasion, opportunity. Cf. Agio, Disease.]
Etymology [OE. esen, eisen, OF. aisier. See Ease, n.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “ease”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details