easement (n.)

late 14c., "compensation, redress," from Old French aisement "comfort, convenience; use, enjoyment," from aisier "to ease," from aise (see ease (n.)). The meaning "legal right or privilege of using something not one's own" is from early 15c.

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to easement

ease (n.)

c. 1200, "physical comfort, undisturbed state of the body; tranquility, peace of mind," from Old French aise "comfort, pleasure, well-being; opportunity," which is of uncertain origin. According to Watkins is ultimately from Latin adiacens "lying at," present participle of adiacere "lie at, border upon, lie near," from ad "to" (see ad-) + iacere "to lie, rest," literally "to throw" (from PIE root *ye- "to throw, impel"). Recent dictionaries in English and French seem to support this derivation, though older sources found objections to it. Compare adagio.

At ease "at rest, at peace, in comfort" is from late 14c.; as a military order (1802) the word denotes "freedom from stiffness or formality."

Trends of easement

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

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alleviation

early 15c., "mitigation, relief," from Medieval Latin alleviationem (nominative alleviatio), noun of action from past-participle stem of alleviare "lift up, raise," figuratively "to lighten (a burden), comfort, console," from assimilated form of Latin ad "to" (see ad-) + levis "l

relief

late 14c., "alleviation of distress, hunger, sickness, etc; state of being relieved; that which mitigates or removes" (pain, grief, evil, etc.)," from Anglo-French relif, from Old French relief "assistance," literally "a raising, that which is lifted;" from stressed stem of relev

detente

1908 as a political term, "an easing of hostility or tensions between countries," a borrowing of French détente "loosening, slackening," from Vulgar Latin *detendita, fem. past participle of Latin detendere "loosen, release," from de "from, away" (see de-) + tendere "stretch" (fr

diminution

c. 1300, diminucioun, "extenuation of sin;" late 14c. as "act of diminishing, lessening, or reducing; process of becoming less," from Anglo-French diminuciun, Old French diminucion and directly from Latin diminutionem (nominative diminutio), earlier deminutionem, noun of action f

introduce

early 15c., "convey or bring (something) in or into," a back-formation from introduction or else from Latin introducere "to lead in, bring in," from intro- "inward, to the inside" (see intro-) + ducere "to lead" (from PIE root *deuk- "to lead"). Meaning "to bring forward, open to

reduction

early 15c., reduccioun, "a restoring to a former state" (a sense now obsolete), also "a conquest or subjugation" (of a people, etc.), from Old French reducion (13c., Modern French réduction) and directly from Latin reductionem (nominative reductio) "a leading back, restoration,"

decrease

early 15c., decresen (intransitive) "become less, be diminished gradually," from Anglo-French decreiss-, present-participle stem of decreistre, Old French descroistre (12c., Modern French décroître), from Latin decrescere "to grow less, diminish," from de "away from" (see de-) +

relaxation

late 14c., relaxacioun, "a rupture, a hernia" (a sense now obsolete); mid-15c., "remission of a burden or penalty," from Old French relaxacion (14c.) and directly from Latin relaxationem (nominative relaxatio) "an easing, mitigation, relaxation," noun of action from past-particip

privilege

mid-12c. "grant, commission" (recorded earlier in Old English, but as a Latin word), from Old French privilege "right, priority, privilege" (12c.) and directly from Latin privilegium "law applying to one person, bill of law in favor of or against an individual;" in the post-Augus

prerogative

"special right or privilege granted to someone; characteristic right inhering in one's nature, office, or position," late 14c., prerogatif, (in Anglo-Latin from late 13c.), from Old French prerogative (14c.) and directly from Medieval Latin prerogativa "special right," from Latin

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updated on September 28, 2017

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