leasing en · NOUN · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- /ˈliːzɪŋ/
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
From Middle English lesing, leasung, from Old English lēasung (“leasing, lying, false witness, deceit, hypocrisy, artifice, lie, empty talk, frivolity, laxity”), from Proto-West Germanic *lausungu, from Proto-Germanic *lausungō, equivalent to lease (“to lie”) + -ing. Cognate with Scots lesing (“lying, falsehood”), German Lösung (“breaking away, release, liberation, solution”), Icelandic lausung (“lying, falsehood”).
Meanings
-
(archaic) A lie; the act of lying, falsehood.
Shewes, visions, sooth-sayes, and prophesies; / And all that fained is, as leasings, tales, and lies.
1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:Then ren they with leſinges, and blow them about, With, ‘He wrate ſuche a bil withouten dout’, With, ‘I can tel you what ſuch a man ſaid, And you knew all ye would be ill apayd’.
c. 1515–1516, John Skelton, 'Againſt venemous tongues enpoyſoned with ſclaunder and falſe detractions &c., published 1568:fy on þi lawe / For al by lesynges þow lyuest · and lecherouse werkes.
c. 1378-9, [William Langland], “[Passus II]”, in The Vision of Pierce Plowman [...] (Cr, B-text), London: […] Roberte Crowley, […], published 1550, →OCLC:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| leasings | Number=Plur | lexicographic |