leisure

leisure

See also: Leisure

English

Etymology

From Middle English leyser, from Anglo-Norman leisir, variant of Old French loisir (“to enjoy oneself”) (Modern French loisir survives as a noun), substantive use of a verb, from Latin licēre (“be permitted”). Displaced native Old English ǣmetta.

Pronunciation

• (UK, General Australian, General South African)
  • IPA^(key): /ˈlɛʒə(ɹ)/, /ˈliːʒə(ɹ)/ (extremely old fashioned)

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

  • Rhymes: -ɛʒə(ɹ)
• (US, Canada)
  • IPA^(key): /ˈliːʒəɹ/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

  • Rhymes: -iːʒə(ɹ)
  • (rarely) IPA^(key): /ˈlɛʒəɹ/

Noun

leisure (countable and uncountable, plural leisures)

1. Freedom provided by the cessation of activities.
2. Free time, time free from work or duties.
   • 1672, William Temple, An Essay Upon the Original and Nature of Government

     The desire of leisure is much more natural than of business and care.

   • 1811, [Jane Austen], chapter 11, in Sense and Sensibility […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] C[harles] Roworth, […], and published by T[homas] Egerton, […], OCLC 20599507:

     Little had Mrs. Dashwood or her daughters imagined when they first came into Devonshire, that so many engagements would arise to occupy their time as shortly presented themselves, or that they should have such frequent invitations and such constant visitors as to leave them little leisure for serious employment.

   • 1908, William David Ross (translator), Aristotle, Metaphysics

     This is why the mathematical arts were founded in Egypt; for there the priestly caste was allowed to be at leisure.

3. Time at one's command, free from engagement; convenient opportunity; hence, convenience; ease.
   • 1717, John Dryden [et al.], “(please specify |book=I to XV)”, in Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Fifteen Books. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], OCLC 731548838:

     He sigh'd, and had no leisure more to say.

Related terms

• at leisure
• leisurely

Translations

freedom provided

Albanian: nge (sq) Arabic: خُلُو مِن اَلْعَمَل‎ (ḵulū min al-ʿamal) Armenian: ազատ ժամանակ (azat žamanak) Catalan: lleure (ca) m, oci (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: 空閑／空闲 (zh) (kòngxián) Czech: volnost (cs) f, volno (cs) n Dutch: vrije tijd (nl) m Finnish: vapaa-aika (fi) French: loisir (fr) m Galician: lecer m German: Muße (de) f Greek: Ancient: σχολή f (skholḗ) Icelandic: frístund f, tómstund f Italian: svago (it) m Japanese: , 余暇 (ja) (よか, yoka), レジャー (ja) (rejā) Korean: 여가 (ko) (yeoga) Latin: ōtium n Maori: rēhia Old English: ǣmetta m Polish: wolne (pl) n, laba (pl) f Portuguese: lazer (pt), ócio (pt) m Romanian: răgaz (ro) n Russian: досу́г (ru) m (dosúg) Scots: leisur Spanish: ocio (es) m Swedish: ledighet (sv) c Tagalog: aliwaksay Ukrainian: дозві́лля n (dozvíllja)

time free

Arabic: رَاحَة‎ f (rāḥa), خُلُو مِن اَلْعَمَل‎ (ḵulū min al-ʿamal), فَرَاغ‎ m (farāḡ), وَقْت اَلْفَرَاغ‎ m (waqt al-farāḡ) Armenian: ազատ ժամանակ (azat žamanak) Belarusian: свабо́дны час m (svabódny čas) Bulgarian: свобо́дно вре́ме n (svobódno vréme) Catalan: oci (ca) m, lleure (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: 空閑／空闲 (zh) (kòngxián), 閑空／闲空 (zh) (xiánkòng), 閑暇／闲暇 (zh) (xiánxiá), 餘暇／余暇 (zh) (yúxiá), 餘閑／余闲, 余闲 (zh) (yúxián) Czech: volný čas m Dutch: vrije tijd (nl) m Esperanto: libertempo Finnish: vapaa-aika (fi) French: loisir (fr) m, temps libre (fr) m Galician: lecer m German: Freizeit (de) f, Muße (de) f Greek: ελεύθερος χρόνος (el) (eléftheros chrónos) Ancient: σχολή f (skholḗ) Hebrew: פנאי‎ (he) m Hindi: अवकाश (hi) m (avkāś), फ़ुर्सत f (fursat) Hungarian: szabadidő (hu) Italian: agio (it) m, ozio (it) m, tempo libero m Japanese: 余暇 (ja) (よか, yoka), 閑暇 (ja) (かんか, kanka), 閑散 (ja) (かんさん, kansan), 暇 (ja) (ひま, hima) Korean: 여가 (ko) (yeoga), 한가 (ko) (han'ga), 한산 (ko) (hansan) Latin: ōtium n Norwegian: Bokmål: fritid (no) m or f Nynorsk: fritid f Old English: ǣmetta m, ǣmethwīl f Polish: wolny czas m Portuguese: lazer (pt), ócio (pt) m, tempo livre m Romanian: răgaz (ro) n, timp liber Russian: досу́г (ru) m (dosúg), свобо́дное вре́мя n (svobódnoje vrémja) Scots: leisur Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: слободно време n, слободно вријеме n Roman: slobodno vreme n, slobodno vrijeme n Slovene: prosti čas m Spanish: ocio (es) m, tiempo libre m Swedish: fritid (sv) Tagalog: aliwaksay Ukrainian: ві́льний час m (vílʹnyj čas) Urdu: اوکاش‎ m (avkāś) Welsh: hamdden (cy) f

See also

• ease
• recreation

Further reading

• leisure on Wikipedia.Wikipedia