English Reference
noun

leasing

n.
US /ˈɫisɪŋ/ leas·ing UK spelling leasings

  1. 01 B2 Upper Intermediate

    the act of renting a car, equipment, or building for a specific period of time.

    the process of granting or obtaining use of an asset under a lease agreement. Uncountable in its general sense; countable when referring to specific instances.

    Simple

    The company decided that leasing a fleet of cars was cheaper than buying them.

    In context

    The financial director argued that leasing the manufacturing equipment would preserve capital for the upcoming expansion into the European market.

  2. 02 C2 Proficiency ArchaicLiterary

    an old word for a lie or the act of telling lies.

    a falsehood or the act of lying. This sense is restricted to historical or literary contexts.

    Simple

    The old poem spoke of a man whose mouth was full of leasing and deceit.

    In context

    The scholar noted that in the King James Bible, the term 'leasing' is employed to denote the spread of wicked falsehoods.


Etymology 1

From Middle English lesing, leasung, from Old English lēasung (“leasing, lying, false witness, deceit, hypocrisy, artifice, lie, empty talk, frivolity, laxity”), from Proto-West Germanic lausungu, from Proto-Germanic lausungō, equivalent to lease (“to lie”) + -ing. Cognate with Scots lesing (“lying, falsehood”), German Lösung (“breaking away, release, liberation, solution”), Icelandic lausung (“lying, falsehood”).

Etymology 2

From Middle English lesing, leesing, lesinge, equivalent to lease (“to tell lies”) + -ing.

Etymology 3

From lease (“to rent out”) + -ing.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry
Origin gem-pro *lausungō
Level B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency Frequent
Updated