Meanings
lease1
plural leases
- formallawAn interest in land granting exclusive use or occupation of real estate for a limited period; a leasehold.
- The document containing such a contract or deed.
- The period of such an interest.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 18”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC - abbreviationcomputingShort for DHCP lease The temporary assignment of an IP address to a networked device.
present singular third person leases · participle present leasing · participle past leased · past leased
- transitivecomputingTo assign a temporary IP address to (a networked device).
- transitivecomputingTo accept such an assignment of (an IP address).
lease2
present singular third person leases · participle present leasing · participle past leased · past leased
lease3
present singular third person leases · participle present leasing · participle past leased · past leased
- UKambitransitivedialectalTo tell lies; tell lies about; slander; calumniate.
lease4
lease5
present singular third person leases · participle present leasing · participle past leased · past leased
- alternativedialectalAlternative form of leese (“to release”)
lease6
Lease7
Synonyms & antonyms
nounproperty that is leased or rented out or let
nounthe period of time during which a contract conveying property to a person is in effect
verbhold under a lease or rental agreement; of goods and services
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
lease · noun, verb
- Old High Germanlāzan“to let, let go, release”
- Latinlaxō“to loose”
- Old Frenchlesser
- Anglo-Norman*leser
- Middle English*lesen
- Englishlease
From Middle English *lesen, from Anglo-Norman *leser, Old French lesser, laisier (“to let, let go”), partly from Latin laxō (“to loose”) and partly from Old High German lāzan (“to let, let go, release”) (German lassen), cognate with Old English lǣtan (“to allow, let go, leave, rent”) whence let.
More words from Middle English, Anglo-Norman, Old French
Full word history & related roots →lease · verb
- Proto-Germanic*lesaną“to gather”
- Proto-West Germanic*lesan
- Old Englishlesan“to collect, pick, select, gather”
- Middle Englishlesen
- Englishlease
From Middle English lesen, from Old English lesan (“to collect, pick, select, gather”), from Proto-West Germanic *lesan, from Proto-Germanic *lesaną (“to gather”).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →lease · verb
- Old Englishlēasian“to lie, tell lies”
- Middle Englishlesen
- Englishlease
From Middle English lesen, from Old English lēasian (“to lie, tell lies”), from lēas (“falsehood, lying, untruth, mistake”).
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →lease · noun
- Proto-West Germanic*lāsu“meadow”
- Old Englishlǣs“meadow”
- Middle Englishlese
- Englishlease
From Middle English lese, from Old English lǣs (“meadow”), from Proto-West Germanic *lāsu (“meadow”). See also leasow.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian аренда, арендовам
- аренда (arenda)contract granting use or occupation of property
- арендовам (arendovam)to operate or live in some property or land through purchasing a long-term contract
Catalan contracte d'arrendament
- contracte d'arrendamentcontract granting use or occupation of property
Chinese Mandarin 租約 /租约, 租期
- 租約 /租约 (zūyuē)contract granting use or occupation of property
- 租期 (zūqī)period of such a contract
Dutch pacht, lease
- pachtcontract granting use or occupation of property
- leasecontract granting use or occupation of property
- pachtento operate or live in some property or land through purchasing a long-term contract
- leasento operate or live in some property or land through purchasing a long-term contract
Finnish vuokrasopimus, vuokra-aika
- vuokrasopimuscontract granting use or occupation of property
- vuokra-aikaperiod of such a contract
- vuokratato operate or live in some property or land through purchasing a long-term contract
French contrat de bail, bail
- contrat de bailcontract granting use or occupation of property
- bailcontract granting use or occupation of property
- loyerperiod of such a contract
German Pacht, pachten
- Pachtcontract granting use or occupation of property
- pachtento operate or live in some property or land through purchasing a long-term contract
Greek σύμβαση μίσθωσης, μισθωτήριο
- σύμβαση μίσθωσης (sýmvasi místhosis)contract granting use or occupation of property
- μισθωτήριο (misthotírio)contract granting use or occupation of property
- εκμίσθωση (ekmísthosi)contract granting use or occupation of property
Indonesian sewa guna usaha
- sewa guna usahacontract granting use or occupation of property
Irish léasaigh
- léasaighto operate or live in some property or land through purchasing a long-term contract
Latin locātum
- locātumcontract granting use or occupation of property
Māori rīhi, rīhitanga
- rīhicontract granting use or occupation of property
- rīhitangaperiod of such a contract
- rīhito operate or live in some property or land through purchasing a long-term contract
Persian اجارهنامه, مدت اجاره
- اجارهنامه (ejâre-nâme)contract granting use or occupation of property
- مدت اجاره (moddat-e ejâre)period of such a contract
- اجاره کردن (ejâre kardan)to operate or live in some property or land through purchasing a long-term contract
Polish leasing, arenda
- leasingcontract granting use or occupation of property
- arendacontract granting use or occupation of property
- dzierżawacontract granting use or occupation of property
- najemcontract granting use or occupation of property
- arendowaćto operate or live in some property or land through purchasing a long-term contract
- dzierżawićto operate or live in some property or land through purchasing a long-term contract
- wynajmowaćto operate or live in some property or land through purchasing a long-term contract
- wynająćto operate or live in some property or land through purchasing a long-term contract
Portuguese arrendar
- arrendarto operate or live in some property or land through purchasing a long-term contract
Romanian contract de închiriere
- contract de închirierecontract granting use or occupation of property
Russian аре́нда, ли́зинг
- аре́нда (arénda)contract granting use or occupation of property
- ли́зинг (lízing)contract granting use or occupation of property
- сда́ча в аре́нду (sdáča v aréndu)contract granting use or occupation of property
- сда́ча внаём (sdáča vnajóm)contract granting use or occupation of property
- арендова́ть (arendovátʹ)to operate or live in some property or land through purchasing a long-term contract
- брать в аре́нду (bratʹ v aréndu)to operate or live in some property or land through purchasing a long-term contract
- взять в аре́нду (vzjatʹ v aréndu)to operate or live in some property or land through purchasing a long-term contract
- брать внаём (bratʹ vnajóm)to operate or live in some property or land through purchasing a long-term contract
- взять внаём (vzjatʹ vnajóm)to operate or live in some property or land through purchasing a long-term contract
Scottish Gaelic gabhail, gabh air mhàl
- gabhailcontract granting use or occupation of property
- gabh air mhàlto operate or live in some property or land through purchasing a long-term contract
Spanish arrendamiento, arrendación
- arrendamientocontract granting use or occupation of property
- arrendacióncontract granting use or occupation of property
- leasingcontract granting use or occupation of property
- llevanzaperiod of such a contract
Ukrainian оре́нда, зда́ча в оре́нду
- оре́нда (orénda)contract granting use or occupation of property
- зда́ча в оре́нду (zdáča v oréndu)contract granting use or occupation of property
- зда́ча в найо́м (zdáča v najóm)contract granting use or occupation of property
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with lease
Anagrams
Cite this entry
lease. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lease
“lease.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lease. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lease,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lease.
Source: lease on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.