lease
Definitions
General English
- noun a written contract, allowing someone to use a building or piece of land for a particular period
- verb to give or hold something on a lease
Accounting
- verb to use an office, land or machinery for a time and pay a fee
Computing
- verb to allow equipment to be used for a period by another person or organisation in return for a fee
- verb to use equipment for a time and pay a fee to its owner
Construction
- A contract that transfers the right of possession and use of buildings, property, vehicles, or items of equipment for a time agreed uponin the contract, in return for rent as monetary compensation.
Economics
- verb to let or rent a building or a piece of land or a piece of equipment for a period against payment of a fee
Law
- noun a written contract for letting or renting of a building, a piece of land or a piece of equipment for a period of time on payment of a fee
Real Estate
- verb to use a building or piece of land in return for paying a fee to the landlord
Travel
- verb to use a building, a piece of land or a piece of equipment for a period and pay a fee
Origin & History of “lease”
The etymological idea underlying lease is of ‘letting go’ – a notion more readily apparent in its close relative release. Its ultimate ancestor is the Latin adjective laxus ‘loose’, source of English lax (14th c.). From this was derived the verb laxāre ‘loosen, let go’, which passed into Old French as laissier (its modern descendant is laisser ‘leave, let’). Anglo-Norman took it over as lesser, and used it for ‘letting something go’ to someone else for a certain period under the terms of a legal contract. Hence English lease. The derivatives lessee (15th c.) and lessor (15th c.) also come from Anglo-Norman.
