The story
- Latin · derived fromlicēre“be permitted”
- Old French · derived fromloisir“to enjoy oneself”
- Anglo-Norman · derived fromleisir
- Middle English · inherited fromleyser
- English todayleisure
From Middle English leyser, from Anglo-Norman leisir, variant of Old French loisir (“to enjoy oneself”) (Modern French loisir survives as a noun), substantive use of a verb, from Latin licēre (“be permitted”). Displaced native Old English ǣmetta.
Words from the same roots
Latinlicēre all →
liceity
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.