lease: [15] 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 [14]. 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 [15] and lessor [15] also come from Anglo-Norman. => lax, release[lease etymology, lease origin, 英语词源]