▪ I. leisure, n.
(ˈlɛʒ(jʊ)ə(r), ˈliːʒ(jʊ)ə(r))
Forms: 4 leisere, leysir, Sc. lasere, 4–5 leiser, leysere, Sc. lasair, 4–6 laiser, layser, leyser, Sc. laser, -are, 5 laisir, -our, -ure, laysar, -ir, leyzer, -soure, lesure, 5–6 leysar, Sc. lasar, 6 laisere, -ure, layso(u)r, -ure, leisar, -our, leaser, -our, leesar, leser, leysour(e, leys(s)or, Sc. laseir, lasar, lazar, laisar, 5–7 leysure, 6–8 leasure, 7 liesure, leizure, 6– leisure.
[a. OF. leisir (mod.F. loisir), subst. use of the infinitive leisir, repr. L. licēre to be permitted.
In Fr. the word has undergone much the same development of sense as in Eng.]
† 1. a. Freedom or opportunity to do something specified or implied. Obs.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 28 Þe seruyng man þat serueþ yn þe ȝere Oweþ to come when he haþ leysere. c 1330 ― Chron. (1810) 229 Whan þou sees leysere, þat he ne perceyue þi witte..with þe knyfe him to smite. ? a 1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 462 No more was there..To clothe her with..Gret leyser hadde she to quake. c 1386 ― Miller's T. 107 She wol been at his comandement, Whan that she may hir leyser wel espie. c 1400 Destr. Troy 3119 Þai hade laisure at lust þere likyng to say. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 295/2 Leysere, oportunitas. c 1489 Caxton Blanchardyn xliii. 169 Sadoyne folowed hym of so nyghe..that with grete peyne gaf them leyser to saue hem self. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems ix. 8, I cry the mercy, and lasar to repent. 1513 Douglas æneis iv. x. 83 Quhy will thow nocht fle spedely be nycht, Quhen for to haist thow hes laisar and mycht? a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon xci. 291 Huon mette with hym so hastly that he had no layser to stryke hym. 1640 Bp. Hall Chr. Moder. i. viii. 75 The Jewes..hold, that after twenty yeares of age, who so finds (the lezer) in himselfe, is bound under paine of sin to marry. |
b. An opportunity. Obs.
| c 1386 Chaucer Sqr.'s T. 485 Whil þat I haue a leyser and a space Myn harm I wol confessen. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 95 If so is, that I may hent Somtime amonge a good leiser. Ibid. II. 242 That she with him had [= might have] a leiser To speke and telle of her desir. 14.. Epiph. in Tundale's Vis. (1843) 116 They haue a leysar found To take hor leyve. 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy i. v, Euer eft on him she cast an eye Whan that she founde a leyser opportune. 1430–40 ― Bochas ix. xxxiii. (1554) 212 b, To their entent a leysure they did spie. |
2. a. In narrower sense: Opportunity afforded by freedom from occupations.
| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints iii. (St. Andrew) 999 Waitand bot lasare quhen he mycht purchess oportunitie. 1375 Barbour Bruce xx. 234 Gif God will me gif Laser and space so lange till liff. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxx. 137, I..saw all þis..and mykill mare þan I hafe layser for to tell. 1489 Caxton Faytes of A. i. xxii. 70 Noo layser they had to putte hem self in ordynaunce. 1526 Tindale Mark iii. 20 They had nott leesar so moche as to eate breed. 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. Ep. A ij, I traveyled so muche as my leasure myghte serve therunto. 1599 Shakes. Much Ado iii. ii. 84 If your leisure seru'd, I would speake with you. 1667 Milton P.L. x. 510 He wonderd, but not long Had leasure, wondring at himself now more. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 418 ¶5 It does not give us Time or Leisure to reflect on ourselves. 1791 Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest ii, They had leisure to laugh at their late terrors. 1857 Buckle Civiliz. I. ii. 38 As long as every man is engaged in collecting the materials necessary for his own subsistence, there will be neither leisure nor taste for higher pursuits. |
b. Duration of opportunity; time allowed before it is too late. Now rare.
| 1553 Bale Vocacyon 41 More than .xxvj. dayes of layser for the payment therof [of the ransom] might not be graunted. 1555 Eden Decades 100 That Tumanama..myght haue no leasure to assemble an armye. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 1331 The Turkes had scarce leasure to leape to land, and to flie into the country. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. xxxi. III. 259 The unfortunate youth had scarcely leisure to deplore the elevation of his family. 1818 Jas. Mill Brit. India II. v. v. 547 The authority of the government of Batavia, for whose sanction there was no leisure to wait. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xxix, He found himself un⁓expectedly in Eachin's close neighbourhood, with scarce leisure to avoid him. 1846 J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) I. 383 The young blades in the field have leisure to expand and grow again before the scythe returns to cut them down a second time. |
3. a. The state of having time at one's own disposal; time which one can spend as one pleases; free or unoccupied time.
| 13.. K. Alis. 234 Heo thougte heo wolde him y-here, Whan heo was of more leisere. 1479 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 413, I..praye [them]..at theire ceasons of leysoure to rede..this present boke. c 1540 Gardiner in Strype Cranmer ii. (1694) 75 To spend some of my laysor to wryte..to your G[race] who hath lesse laysor. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 255 To the perfourmance of such an enterprise, much leasure and labour is required. c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. xxxix, Oh absence what a torment wouldst thou proue Were it not thy soure leisure gaue sweet leaue To entertaine the time with thoughts of loue. 1672 Temple Ess. Govt. Wks. 1731 I. 97 Where Ambition and Avarice have made no Entrance, the Desire of Leisure is much more Natural, than of Business and Care. 1780 Johnson Let. to Mrs. Thrale 25 Aug., I am not grown, I am afraid, less idle; and of idleness I am now paying the fine by having no leisure. 1830 D'Israeli Chas. I, III. vi. 91 Charles commanded his Lordship to employ some of his leisure in a dramatic composition. 1887 Ruskin Præterita II. 143 The first volume of ‘Modern Painters’ took the best of the winter's leisure. |
| personified. 1632 Milton Penseroso 49 And adde to these retired Leasure, That in trim Gardens takes his pleasure. |
b. In particularized sense: A period or spell of unoccupied time. Now rare.
| c 1449 Pecock Repr. ii. xv. 236 That thei go in pilgrimage thanne or in sum other leiser which thei wolen to hem silf point. a 1535 Fisher Wks. (E.E.T.S.) 432 To spare a leysoure for hym to here the bottom of his mynde. 1597 Morley Introd. Mus. 115, I will then take my leaue of you for this time, till my next leisure. 1654 R. Codrington tr. Iustine i. 2 In the leisures which in this City I enjoyed. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Lit. Wks. (Bohn) II. 110 It is because he [Bacon] had imagination, [and] the leisures of the spirit..that he is impressive to the imaginations of men. 1873 Lowell Among my Bks. Ser. ii. 181 In keeping with that sense of endless leisures which it is one chief merit of the poem to suggest. |
c. to tarry, attend or stay (upon) a person's leisure: to wait until he is unoccupied; to wait his time. Also fig. arch.
| 1517 in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. II. 4 note, If ye be not contente to tary my Leysure, departe when ye wille. 1535 Coverdale Ps. xxvi[i]. 14 [16] O tary thou y⊇ Lordes leysure. 1595 Shakes. John ii. i. 58 The aduerse windes Whose leisure I haue staid, haue giuen him time To land his Legions all as soone as I. 1596 ― Merch. V. i. i. 68 Wee'll make our leysures to attend on yours. 1605 ― Macb. i. iii. 148 Worthy Macbeth, wee stay vpon your leysure. 1656 Jeanes Fuln. Christ 91 Not contented to wait the Lords Leisure. |
† 4. Leisureliness, deliberation. Obs.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 29370 Þe toþer [case] es of dorward or porter..þat clerk wit laiser smites oght. 1450–80 Secreta Secret. 25 Ete with leyser and good masticacioun. 1486 Surtees Misc. (1888) 55 Sex kinges..with certaine convenient laisour, avisedly shall commyt a ceptour unto Salamon. 1563–7 Buchanan Reform. St. Andros Wks. (1892) 8 Tellyng..to thayme the lettres..in sik lasar that the barnis may easely writ eftyr his pronunciation. 1664 Power Exp. Philos. ii. 123 Much leisure and accurateness were used in filling the Tube. 1677 Marvell Corr. cccvi. Wks. 1872–5 II. 563, I having presented him your letter, he read it with great leisure. |
5. Phrases. a. at leisure: with free or unoccupied time at one's disposal; without haste, with deliberation. Also with qualifying adjs., as all, best, convenient, full, less, more.
| c 1340 Cursor M. 7239 (Trin.) Hir tyme she toke a leiser þere And whil he slepte kut his here. 1375 Barbour Bruce v. 390 He.. sat and ete at all lasare. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶761 Som folk stonden of hir owene wyl to eten at the lasse leyser. 1444 Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 219 Whoo hath no dyneer, at leyser must abyde, To staunche his hungir abyde upon his ffood. c 1450 Merlin 7 Go youre wey, and anothir tyme, we shall speke more at leyser. 1522 Skelton Why nat to Courte? 622 My lorde is nat at layser. 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. iv. i. 100, I will debate this matter at more leisure. 1598 Epulario H iv, And so let it bake at leisure, strawing Sugar..vpon it. 1613 Heywood Silver Age i. i. Wks. 1874 III. 92 The full circumstance I shall relate at leasure. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. i. v. §17 We for the present are well at Leisure, we will present the Reader with the Description of their severall Principalities. 1687 Congreve Old Bach. v. i. (1693) 50 Marry'd in Haste, we may repent at leisure. 1823 Byron Juan xiii. vi, Men love in haste, but they detest at leisure. |
Const. for; also inf. or a clause introduced by that.
| 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 1250 They were not at liesure now to send such great forces as they had before used, into Hungarie. 1669 Clarendon Ess. Tracts (1727) 95 We complain..of those who are in place and authority..that they are never at leisure that we may speak to them. 1732 Berkeley Alciphr. vi. §20, I am not at leisure to peruse the learned writings of divines. 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. vii, The dinner being now fairly sent in, the whole kitchen was at leisure to gossip with her. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 334 The wardens..shall be men of ability, and at leisure to take care of the public interest. |
b. at one's leisure: when one has unoccupied time at one's disposal; at one's ease or convenience. Also with adjs. as in a.
| 1481 Caxton Godfrey Prol. 5 To whom I humbly beseche, at theyr leyzer and playsyr, to see & here redde this symple book. 1483 ― G. de la Tour D iv, Wherfore atte his beste leyser he shewed her his deceyuable purpos. c 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 518 A thousand kisses buyes my heart from me, And pay them at thy leisure, one by one. 1601 ― Jul. C. iii. i. 5 Trebonius doth desire you to ore-read (At your best leysure) that his humble suite. 1605 ― Macb. ii. i. 24 At your kind'st leysure. 1605 ― Lear ii. iv. 232 Mend when thou can'st, be better at thy leisure. 1636 Sanderson Serm. (1681) II. 48 [They] think they can continue in their sins..and then repent of them and forsake them at their leasure, whensoever they list. 1901 Kipling Kim in Cassell's Mag. Jan. 176/2 He would go to Umballa at his leisure. |
† c. by leisure (also by good leisure): with deliberation, in a leisurely manner; at one's leisure; in course of time, by degrees; slowly. Also (= Gr. σχολῇ), barely, not at all. Obs.
| c 1386 Chaucer Melib. ¶65 Thilke Iuge is wys that soone vnderstondeth a matiere and Iuggeth by leyser. 1430–40 Lydg. Bochas (1544) Prol. 34 From the trueth shall I not remoue But on the substance, by good leysar abyde. c 1483 Caxton Dialogues viii. 46 William the brusshemaker Selleth the brusshes by leyzer. 1522 More De quat. Noviss. Wks. 99/1 By the stuffing of his paunch so ful, it bringeth in by leysour, the dropsy [etc.]. 1555 in Strype Eccl. Mem. III. App. xxxiii. 87 Let him tary, and..work by leysure. 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. i. i. 301 Ile trust by Leisure him that mocks me once. 1589 R. Harvey Pl. Perc. (1590) 20 Though it take fire quickly, yet it takes light by leisure. 1607 Collins Serm. (1608) 41 He gaue order to Salomon to see to the execution of them by leasure. 1633 Bp. Hall Hard Texts 1 Not all together and at once, nor in this perfect form, at first..but by leisure and degrees. c 1700 To Celia in Coll. Poems 54, I must to lengthen on the Pleasure, Dwell on thy Lips, and Kiss by leisure. |
† d. in (good) leisure: at leisure. Obs.
| c 1315 Shoreham 61 Ine leyser other in haste. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints iii. (St. Andrew) 904 Þe bischope..made hym chifte In gud lasere to here hyr schrift. Ibid. xxix. (Placidas) 34 He þat..penance to do here wil begyne & in gud lasare mend his syne. |
e. lady (or woman) of leisure, a woman who has no regular employment or whose time is free from obligations to others.
| 1948 R. M. Ayres Missing the Tide v. 164 She was no longer a lady of leisure in her own house but a paid companion with irksome duties to perform. 1951 M. McLuhan Mech. Bride (1967) 40/1 The woman of leisure might wear long skirts, but the working woman was put into adolescent short skirts. 1955 L. P. Hartley Perfect Woman xxii. 190 Or as the lady of leisure, reading a book? 1975 D. Ramsay Descent into Dark i. 26 She had a whole afternoon to play lady of leisure. |
6. attrib. often passing into adj. a. Of periods of time: = Free, unoccupied; occas. compared with more and most. † b. Leisurely (obs.). c. Leisured.
| 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. iv. 161 Some will expect..other sort of Questions..For them, and their leisure-time, I have inserted these.. following. 1673 O. Walker Educ. (1677) 112 The product of his leasure hours. 1681 Dryden Abs. & Achit. 612 If any Leisure time he had from Pow'r. 1694 Atterbury Serm. (1723) I. 90 It did not establish it self like other kingdoms in a slow and leisure manner. 1712 Arbuthnot John Bull iii. vii, In his leisure minutes, he was posting his books. 1742 Lond. & Country Brew. i. (ed. 4) 34 By the leisure Putting over the Bowls of Water, the Goodness of the Malt is the more extracted and washed out..than if the Wort was drawn out hastily. 1772 Ann. Reg. 198 This was the most leisure time of the year. 1785 Burns To Jas. Smith iv, Hae ye a leisure-moment's time To hear what's comin? 1809 Campbell Gertr. Wyom. ii. xiii, His leisure pace. 1816 Jane Austen Emma I. ii. 25 He had still a small house in Highbury, where most of his leisure days were spent. 1841 Catlin N. Amer. Ind. (1844) I. xxiv. 194 A more leisure occasion. 1845 Athenæum 1 Feb. 110 That the leisure classes are not more misled and perverted than they are. 1850 H. Miller Footpr. Creat. (1874) 325 They are in part the fruits of a leisure fortnight spent this autumn. 1859 Smiles Self-Help x. (1860) 258 This is an advantage which the working classes..certainly possess over the leisure classes. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 249 Let us pass a leisure hour in story telling. 1899 T. Veblen (title) The theory of the leisure class. 1907 F. H. Burnett Shuttle xxxiv. 347 In another generation there will be a male leisure class [in America]. 1907 Belloc Cautionary Tales 31 Learn To pass your Leisure Time In Cleanly Merriment. 1912 J. H. Moore Ethics & Educ. vi. 22 The school in its origin was a leisure-class institution. 1941 E. Wilson Wound & Bow i. 61 They [sc. Estella and Pip] are left with their leisure-class habits and no incomes to keep them up. 1947 O. Barfield in Essays presented to Charles Williams 121 It has no particular significance if poetry is to be regarded only as..a pleasurable way of diverting our leisure hours. 1951 M. McLuhan Mech. Bride (1967) 40/1 Competitive drives and ambitious impulses will be transferred increasingly to leisure and home occupations. 1954 Encounter Mar. 78/2 A master-race recruited solely from the leisure-class and endemic to English shores: ‘Of such was The Breed.’ 1961 D. Jenkins Equality & Excellence vii. 143 Problems of adjustment..connected with housing and leisure-time activities. 1963 Punch 15 May 710/3 Fashion shows of men's outerwear, underwear, leisure⁓wear, rainwear. 1964 A. Wykes Gambling iv. 80 Watching other people play games has been one of man's favorite leisure-time occupations for a long while. 1965 New Society 26 Aug. 5/3 Buxton is trying to..latch on to the leisure revolution, without becoming a coach tours nightmare. 1966 Guardian 16 Feb. 6/3 A case for subregional leisure centres—which would help people in small towns to feel less dependent on cities—was made out yesterday by Professor Arthur Ling. 1968 Economist 4 May 38/2 One should not conclude that Frenchmen have reached the stage of the fabled leisure civilisation. 1968 Daily Tel. 28 Dec. 21/1 The ever-increasing attraction of boating as a leisure-activity and a sport. 1969 Times 7 Nov. 14/2 With the increasing demand for leisure wear, formal wear people have softened their lines. 1972 Accountant 17 Aug. (Suppl.) 11/3 Expanding construction company specialising in growth market of the leisure industry. 1974 Times 12 Feb. 11/7 Silhouette's swimwear and leisurewear sales manager. |
▪ II. leisure, v. rare.
(ˈlɛʒ(jʊ)ə(r), U.S. ˈliːʒ(jʊ)ə(r))
[f. the n.]
a. intr. To have or enjoy leisure. b. trans. To make leisurely.
| 1928 Blunden Undertones of War 304 There to tarry in careless ways,.. Leisuring after fiery days. 1929 Bridges Testament of Beauty i. 32 Science comforting man's animal poverty and leisuring his toil. 1970 G. F. Newman Sir, You Bastard vi. 173 Sneed rose late..and leisured with the papers in the coffee-house opposite his flat. |