▪ I. † leese, v.1 Obs.
Forms: (1 -léosan), 2–4 leosen, (3 -ien), (3 2nd pers. sing. lust), 2–5 lesen, 3–4 leose, (Kent. 3 liese, 3–4 lyese, 3rd sing. pres. lyest, liest), 3–6 lese, 3, 5–6 lease, 4 Sc. leiss, 4–5 les, 4–7 leese, (5 lesyn, ? lyse), 5–6 lesse, leze, lees, Sc. leis, 6 leeze. pa. tense. α. strong. (1 -léas), 3 læs, las, leos, 3–4 leas, (pl. and subj. 3 lure, 3–4 lore, 4 pl. lorn), 4 lese, lees, Kent. lyeas, (5 ? lyse), 6 Sc. leis. β. weak. 3 leosede, Kent. liesed, 4 leste, leest, 4–5 lest, Sc. lessit, -yt. pa. pple. α. strong. (1 -loren), 3 i-loren, 3–5 ilore, 4 yloren, lorin, losen, -in, 4–5 ylore, ylorn(e, lore(n, 5 yloore, 4–7 lorne, 4– lorn (see lorn ppl. a.). β. weak. 3 ileosed, 4–5 lest(e, 6 Sc. lesit.
[A Com. Teut. strong vb.: OE. -léosan, only in compounds, beléosan, forléosan (-léas, -luron, -loren) corresponds to OFris. ur-liasa, OS. far-liosan (Du. ver-liezen), OHG. vir-liosan (MHG. verliesen, mod.G. verlieren, influenced by the pa. tense and pa. pple.), Goth. fra-liusan; other derivatives of the root (*leus-: laus-: los-) are leasing n., -less, loose a. and v., lose v., loss.
The root *leus- is usually regarded as an extension of the *leu-, *lu- in Gr. λύ-ειν, L. so-lv-ĕre to loosen.]
1. trans. = lose, in its various senses; to part with or be parted from by misadventure, through change in conditions, etc.; to be deprived of; to cease to possess; to fail to preserve, or maintain; to fail to gain or secure; to fail to profit by, to spend (time) unprofitably; to use (labour) to no advantage. Also refl. a. In present stem.
| c 1205 Lay. 20112 Þat he scal þat lif leosen & leosien his freonden. Ibid. 24914 Idelnesse makeð mon his monscipe leose [c 1275 lease]. a 1225 Ancr. R. 102 Þe cat of helle..makede hire to leosen boðe God & mon, mid brod schome & sunne. c 1250 Kent. Serm. in O.E. Misc. 26 He was ofdred for to liese his king riche of ierusalem. a 1300 Cursor M. 6 Þere many thosand lesis þer lijf. a 1300 Beket (Percy Soc.) 859 Thu must do so. Other thu lust thi bischop⁓riche: other peraventure thi lyf. 1340 Ayenb. 52 Þos he lyest al his time, and þe niȝt and þane day. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. iii. 131 Heo doth men leosen heore lond and heore lyues after. ? a 1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 448 For a litel glorie veine, They lesen god and eek his reine. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 49 He is worþy to lese [MS. γ luse] his heed. 1398 ― Barth. De P.R. xii. xxxii. (1495) 432 The pecok lesyth his fetheres whan the fyrste tree lesyth his leues. Ibid. xiv. xliv. 483 This mount is perylous to stranges that knowe not the wayes therin, for they may lightly lese themself. ? a 1400 Arthur 231 As þu wold nat leze þy lyf, Fulfylle þys wythoute stryff. c 1430 Hymns Virg. 46, I leese on him so myche trauaile. 1485 Galway Arch. in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 384 To lesse and forfayte one hundred shillinges. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cclix. 384 He that all coueteth al leseth. a 1547 Earl of Surrey in Tottel's Misc. (Arb.) 7 Farre of I burne, in both I wast, and so my life I leze. 1553 Douglas' æneis xi. viii. 75 Thou sall neuer leis [ed. Small los]..Sic ane peuische and catiue saule as thine. a 1568 R. Ascham Scholem. i. (Arb.) 63, I do not meene..that yong Ientlemen..by vsing good studies, shold lease honest pleasure. c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. v, Flowers distil'd,..Leese but their show, their substance still liues sweet. 1601 Holland Pliny I. 168 Mans memorie..oftentimes it assaieth and goeth about to leese it selfe, euen whiles a mans body is otherwise quiet and in health. 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. ii. Ded. to King §3 Water..doth scatter and leese itselfe in the ground, except it be collected into some Receptacle. 1611 Bible 1 Kings xviii. 5 Peraduenture we may finde grasse to saue the horses and mules aliue, that we leese not all the beasts. 1625 Bacon Ess., Empire (Arb.) 307 For that that he winnes in the Hundred, he leeseth in the Shire. 1626 ― Sylva §390 Flowers Pressed or Beaten, do leese the Freshness and Sweetness of their Odour. 1675 Hobbes Odyssey (1677) 119 Your life, quoth he, amongst the rest you'll leese. |
b. In pa. tense and pa. pple.
(α) strong.
| c 1205 Lay. 15519 Þe King his swinc læs. Ibid. 18202 Ne les [c 1275 leos] he næuere leouere mon. Ibid. 20463 Þenne [wes] heore wurðscipe iloren a þissere worlde-richen. a 1225 Ancr. R. 54 Heo leas hire meidenhod, & was imaked hore. c 1275 XI Pains Hell 139 in O.E. Misc. 151 Heo heore mayden-hod lure. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 6287 He dradde wanne he lore þat lif, & were ybroȝt to deþe. a 1300 Body & Soul in Map's Poems (Camden) 337 Al mi love on the I las. a 1300 Cursor M. 714 (Gött.) To win þat bliss þat he ha lorin [Fairf. lorne]. 1307 Elegy Edw. I, ix, Jerusalem, thou hast ilore The flour of all chivalerie. 13.. Sir Tristr. 1116 Þai lorn all her swink. 1340 Ayenb. 85 Ac þis lhordssip he leas be zenne. Ibid. 203 Be huam he wes ouercome, and be huam he lyeas his miȝte. 1375 Barbour Bruce vii. 44 [He] Persauit the hund the sleuth had lorn. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. Prol. 26 If that olde bokis weryn aweye I-loryn were of remembrance the keye. Ibid. 945 Dido, By the weye his wif Crusa he les [v.r. lees]. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. viii. 132 The sonne for sorwe ther-of lees lyght for a tyme. c 1400 Beryn 3731 Fond this blynd seching..Grasping al aboute to fynd that he had lore. 1406 Hoccleve Misrule 349 My purs his stuf hath lore. c 1425 Seven Sag. (P.) 892 As dyde the knyght..That slew his hounde and lyse hys lyfe, For a worde of hyse wyfe. 1447 O. Bokenham Seyntys (Roxb.) 39 Here shal I hope no labour be lorn. 1513 Douglas æneis iii. x. 104 The port of Drepanoun, and the raid quhar..I leis my fadir. |
(β) weak.
| c 1205 Lay. 10629 Þa Pohtes weoren uuele, he leoseden heore aðele. Ibid. 26360 While þine aldren France ieoden..and seoðen heo hit leoseden [c 1275 losede]. Ibid. 28337 Nu ich ileosed habbe mine sweines leofe. c 1250 Kent. Serm. in O.E. Misc. 30 Alle þo..þet..þurch yemer i-wil liesed þo blisce of heuene. a 1300 Cursor M. 2084 Nine hundreth ȝere and tensith fiue Was noe wen he lest his liue. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 9 Allas! I leste hyr in on erbere. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. x. 269 Ich leyue, for thy lacchesse thow leest meny wederes. 1430–40 Lydg. Bochas i. i. (1544) 2 b, They lost the dominacion Of Paradise..Their fredome lest, and became mortal. c 1470 Henry Wallace ix. 477 Feyll lessyt thar.. lyff apon the Sotheroun sid. a 1555 Lyndesay Tragedie 120 Efter that boith strenth and speche wes lesit. |
2. absol. and intr. To lose, be a loser.
| c 1275 Lay. 12492 We habbeþ for oure loue ilore of [c 1205 ilosed] vre leode. 1375 Barbour Bruce xii. 347 Thai haf tald..how thai lessit off thair men. 1481 Caxton Myrr. i. iii. 10 He may wynne by doyng well and also lese by doyng euyll. 1484 ― Fables of Auian xviii, Suche supposen to wynne somtyme whiche lesen. a 1592 Greene Geo. a Greene (1599) D 2 b, To know whether we shall win or leese. 1599 Hakluyt Voy. II. i. 68 Whereby the Empire of Constantinople leeseth, and is like to leese. 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. i. viii. §6 (1873) 72 Copies cannot but leese of the life and truth. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 59 All things [are] to follow in an easie and expedite course if you win, but all against you, if you leese. |
3. trans. To destroy; to bring to ruin or perdition; to spoil. = L. perdere.
| a 1325 Prose Psalter v. 6 Þou shalt lesin [L. perdes] alle þat speken lesyng. c 1330 Spec. Gy Warw. 130 Þurw þat sinne he was lorn. c 1350 Will. Palerne 988 Þerfor, come⁓liche creature..les nouȝt is liif ȝut for a litel wille. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints Prol. 52 Hou þat crist ves of hire borne, to ransone mankynd þat ves lorne. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. iii. 462 Oyl pausia, whil hit is grene is best, But sone in age hit is corrupt & lest. c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. xix. (1885) 155 It is no prerogatyff or power to mowe lese any good, or to mowe wast, or put it awey. c 1485 in E.E. Misc. (Warton Club) 30 Sone after the sperit with a dredly speche Begane to crye and sayd,—I am lorne! 1496 Dives & Paup. (W. de W.) i. viii. 39/2 The fendes that ben besy nyght & daye to lese us. 1553 Douglas' æneis x. vi. 64 Syne smate he Lycas, and him has al to lorne [ed. Small torn], That of his dede moderis wame furth was schorne. |
b. With dative: To cause (a person) the loss of.
| 1550–3 Decaye of Engl. (E.E.T.S.) 100 It leseth the kings Maiesty in prouision for his noble housholdes,..v. thousande markes by the yeare. |
4. intr. To come to ruin, to be ‘lost’. rare.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 109 Vniseli bið þe ȝitsere þe þurh his iselhðe leosað. c 1470 Henry Wallace xi. 646 To succour thaim that was in poynt to leis. |
5. To fail to do something. rare.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 887 Þay lest of Lotez logging any lysoun to fynde. |
¶ 6. Spenser uses the vb. in the str. pa. tense and pa. pple. (lore, lorn) incorrectly with the sense ‘to forsake, desert, leave’. Cf. the corresponding sense of lorn a., which first appears in the 16th c.
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. iv. 2 After that he had faire Una lorne, Through light misdeeming of her loialtie. Ibid. iii. i. 44 Neither of them she found where she them lore. |
▪ II. † leese, v.2
Forms: 1 l{iacu}esan, l{yacu}san, lésan, 2–4 lese(n, 4 les, lais(e, layse, 5 lesse, 6 Sc. leis, 7 leese. pa. tense 1 l{yacu}sde, 3 lesede, 4 lais(e)d.
[OE. l{iacu}esan wk. vb. = OS. lôsian (MDu. lôsen, lôzen, Du. loozen), OHG. lôsen (MHG. lœsen, mod.G. lösen), ON. l{obar}ysa (Sw. lösa, Da. löse), Goth. (and OTeut.) lausjan, f. OTeut. *lauso-: see loose a. The forms laise, layse, are from ON. Cf. alese.]
1. trans. To set free, deliver, release (in material and immaterial senses).
| a 900 Cynewulf Crist 1209 Hu se sylfa cyning mid sine lic-homan lysde of firenum þurh milde mod. c 975 Rushw. Gosp. Luke xii. 58 Sel ᵹeornlice ðætte ðu se ᵹilesed from him [L. da operam liberari ab illo]. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 71 Lif and saule beon..ilesed ut of sorȝen. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 69 Ure helendes wille þe lesde us of deaðe. a 1300 Cursor M. 16442 He barabas, es laisd o prisun. Ibid. 18327 For us artu hider soght Fra ded of hell all to lais us. a 1310 in Wright Lyric P. vii. 29 Levedy, of alle londe Les me out of bonde. a 1340 Hampole Psalter cxxv. 5 We ere lesyd of syn. c 1430 Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 7342 Generides was lessed of his thoght. 1560 Rolland Crt. of Venus ii. 558 Perauenture thay wold ȝow leis of cair. 1607 Middleton Five Gallants iv. viii, Keep thou thine owne heart, thou liu'st vnsuspected, I leese you againe now. |
2. To loosen, unloose; to unfasten, open; to relax (the body).
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 3152 Heued and fet..lesen fro ðe bones and eten. a 1300 Cursor M. 18640 Leon o rightwisnes has raised Him-self, and his prisun laisd [Fairf. laused, Gött. laised]. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 836 Lesande þe boke with leuez sware [= square]. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 16 To myche slepinge..coldiþ & lesiþ al his bodi. ? 1507 Communyc. (W. de W.) A iij, Lorde, let these werkes lesse my bandes. |
▪ III. leese
obs. form of leach n.1, lease, leash.
▪ IV. leese
obs. pl. of lee n.2