▪ I. leasow, n. Now dial.
(ˈliːsəʊ, ˈlɛzə)
Forms: 1 pl. lǽswe, léswe, Northumb. lésua, 3 ? lewse, pl. leswa, 3–6 lesewe, 4 leswe, 4–6 lesue, 5 leseo, liswe, 5, 7 lesow, 6 leassewe, leyssue, Sc. lesoue, 7– leasow. β. (chiefly Sc.) 6 lesur(e, lyssoure, lasor, 7 leissoure, leasure, lizure, 8 lizor, 9 lizzure, leissure.
[See lease n.1]
Pasture; pasturage; meadow-land.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. John x. 9 Inn-færeð & ut-færeð & lesua [Rushw. leswe, Ags. & Hatton Gosp. læse] ᵹemoetað. 10.. Ags. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 325/25 Pascua, læswe. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 37 Ðis oref is swiðe egerne and fecheð his leswe hwile uppen trewes, and hwile uppen cliues. c 1205 Lay. 2011 Bi-heold he þa leswa [c 1275 lesewes] & þene leofliche wode. a 1225 Ancr. R. 94 Ine heouene is large leswe. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1576 Ydumea, ðat fulsum lond, Of lewse god, was in hise hond. 1382 Wyclif Ps. xciv. [xcv.] 7 Wee the puple of his leswe; and the shep of his hond. ― Jer. xxiii. 1 Wo to the shepperdis, that scateren and to-tern the floc of my leswe, seith the Lord. c 1440 R. Glouc. Chron. 1005 (MS. δ) Hor leseo lasteth euere. Ibid. 7701 Lesow he ȝaf þer to. 1495 Act 11 Hen. VII, c. 35 §4 Medowes lesues pastures. 1502 Arnolde Chron. (1811) 174 Lesurs pasturs weies pathes wetingli and uniustli..witholden. 1513 Douglas æneis xii. Prol. 183 In lyssouris and on leys litill lammis Full tait and trig socht bletand to thar dammis. 1547 Newminster Cartul. (1878) 310 All lands medows leyssues and pastures. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 27 A pasture, or as we say, a Lesoue. 1658 Disposition in Jamieson Dict. s.v. Lesuris, Meadows, leissoureis and pasturages. 1699 Ibid., Water stanks, lizures, pasturages. 1686 Plot Staffordsh. 293 Having a Lesow quite overrun with well grown broom. 1799 Trans. Soc. Arts xvii. 126 Coarse meadows, or what are called leasows, being rough woody pastures. 1825–80 Jamieson, Leissure, Lizzure. a 1845 Hood Town & Country xv, I hold no Leasowes in my lease, No cot set round with trees. 1852 J. Wiggins Embanking 139 After feeding all the summer on the higher grounds, called leasows or leazes in the dairy counties. 1894 S.E. Worcester Gloss, Lezzow, a meadow. |
▪ II. ˈleasow, v. Obs. or dial.
In 1 lǽs(w)ian, 3 leswe, leswue, 3–4 lesewe, 4 lesuwe, lisewe, 4–5 lesowe, 7 lessow.
[OE. lǽswian (also lǽsian), f. lǽsw-, lǽs leasow n., lease n.1]
trans. and intr. To pasture, graze.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Luke viii. 32 Wæs ðonne ðer ede vel sunor berᵹana moniᵹo foedendra vel lesuuandra [Ags. Gosp. læsiendra]. c 1000 ælfric Gen. xli. 2 (Gr.) Hiᵹ man læswode on morium lande. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 39 Þe selue herdes beð þe lorþewes of holi chiriche þe leseweð here orf. a 1225 Ancr. R. 100 And leswe þine ticchenes bi heordmonne hulen, of ris & of leaues. 1382 Wyclif Matt. viii. 30 A floc..of many hoggis lesewynge was nat fer from hem. ― 1 Cor. ix. 7 Who feedith or lesuwith a floc, and etith not of the mylk of the flok? c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. i. v. 212 As catell lesowyde in and oute. 1604 Drayton Moses 28 Gently his faire flocks lessow'd he along. 1825–80 Jamieson, Lesure, both as a s. and as a v., is still used in the pastoral districts of Ayrs., Renfrs., and Lanarks. |
Hence ˈleasowed (lesewed) ppl. a.
| 1382 Wyclif 1 Kings iv. 23 Ten fatte oxen, twenti lesewed oxen [1388 oxis of lesewe, Vulg. pascuales]. |