ease

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“
Dismounting, they crept forward in the shelter of the brushwood, and there, true enough, resting at his ease was a great buffalo bull Hit him where the patch of red shows on his side," whispered the guide, and Roosevelt nodded to show that he understood.

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Definitions (49)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (18)

  1. noun The condition of being comfortable or relieved.
  2. noun Freedom from pain, worry, or agitation: Her mind was at ease knowing that the children were safe.
  3. noun Freedom from constraint or embarrassment; naturalness.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (20)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (2)

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Examples (50)

  • Mr. Campion, the most unassuming of men, did not imagine for a moment that her solicitude for his comfort, her tacit acceptance of the fact that his ease was all-important, was due in any way to his personal charm. —  Flowers for the Judge - Margery Allingham - Campion 07 - 1937
  • It has, however, been objected, with sufficient reason, that there is in the commentary too much of unseasonable levity and affected gaiety; that too many appeals are made to the ladies, and the ease which is so carefully preserved is sometimes the ease of a trifler. —  Lives of the English Poets: Prior, Congreve, Blackmore, Pope
  • Devvarman was expected to fight, but the ease was an irreverential defiance of what one has come to expect of Indian tennis. —  The Hindu - Front Page
  • Beyond the ease is the control-as you grow your favorite foods, you feed and soak your plants with just what they need for optimum growth.
  • Many Inventions' will be welcomed wherever the English language is spoken.... Every one of the stories bears the imprint of a master who conjures up incident as if by magic, and who portrays character, scenery, and feeling with an ease which is only exceeded by the boldness of force." —  The Green Carnation
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

grace ·  simplicity ·  comfort ·  confidence ·  elegance ·  warmth ·  freedom ·  indifference ·  precision ·  rapidity ·  repose ·  tenderness

Used in the same contextWord Family

ease:   eased ·  easing ·  eases
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English ese, from Old French aise, elbowroom, physical comfort, from Vulgar Latin *asium.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Early modern English also eaze, ese; from Middle English ese, eise, eyse, from Anglo-French eise, Old French aise, ayse, aize, French aise, feminine, = Provencal aise, ais (later prob. Basque aisia) = Old Catalan aise. ease. = Portuguese azo, aid, motive, occasion, = Old Italian asio, agio, aggio, masculine, ease, convenience, exchange, premium, now distinguished in spelling: agio, ease; aggio (later F. agio, later English agio, q. v.), exchange, premium. Hence the adjective, Old French aise, ayse, aize = Provencal aïs, easy (modern F. aisé, participial adjective, easy); the adverb phrase, Old French a aise, French à Paise = Provencal ad ais = Italian ad agio, adagio (later English adagio), at ease, at leisure, later Old French aaise, ahaise = OPg. aaso = Italian adagio, ease; and the compound, French malaise (later English malaise), uneasiness. The Roman forms are somewhat irregular, and are certainly of external origin, perhaps Celtic: cf. (1) Breton eaz, ez, easy; Gaelic adhais, leisure, ease. There is nothing to prove a connection with (2) Anglo-Saxon eáthe, obsolete English eath (see eath); or with (3) Gothic (Moesogothic) azets, easy (in comparative azetizo), azeti, ease, azetaba, easily; or with (4) L. otium, ease (see otiose); or with (5) Old High German essa, Middle High German G. esse (later Danish esse), a forge, furnace, chimney, orig. a fireplace (akin to Anglo-Saxon ād, a funeral pyre, āst, a furnace, kiln, later English oast, q. v.), whence, as some conjecture, ‘to be at one's ease’ (French étre à son aise), orig. ‘to be at one's hearth, feel at home’; or with (6) Middle Low German esse = German esse = Old Danish esse, Danish es = Swedish esse, well-being, comfort, ease (apparently from Latin esse, be, used as a noun): unless indeed these last Teutonic forms are, like the English word, from the F. aise.
  2. from Middle English esen, eisen, from Old French *eiser, aiser, aisier = Provencal aisar = Portuguese azar = Italian agiare, ease; from the noun.
 

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