leisure

See also: Leisure

English

Alternative forms

• leasure (obsolete)

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 […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] C[harles] Roworth, […], and published by T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC:

     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, Aristotle, translated by William David Ross, 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:

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

Derived terms

• at leisure
• at one's leisure
• gentleman of leisure
• lady of leisure
• leisure battery
• leisure centre
• leisure class
• leisurely
• leisure suit
• leisure time

 

Translations

freedom provided

• Albanian: nge (sq)
• Arabic: خُلُو مِن اَلْعَمَل (ḵulū min al-ʕamal)
• 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
• Danish: ledighed c
• Dutch: vrije tijd (nl) m
• Finnish: vapaa-aika (fi)
• French: loisir (fr) m
• Galician: lecer m, vagar (gl) m, folga (gl) f, enateza f
• 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-ʕamal), 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 (xiánkòng), 閑暇／闲暇 (zh) (xiánxiá), 餘暇／余暇 (zh) (yúxiá), 餘閑／余闲 (zh) (yúxián)

• Czech: volný čas m
• Danish: fritid (da)
• Dutch: vrije tijd (nl) m
• Esperanto: libertempo
• Finnish: vapaa-aika (fi)
• French: loisir (fr) m, temps libre (fr) m
• Galician: lecer m, vagar (gl) m, folga (gl) f, enateza f
• 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)
• Indonesian: waktu luang, waktu senggang
• Ingrian: joutava aika
• 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)
• Vietnamese: nhàn rỗi (vi)
• Welsh: hamdden (cy) f

See also

• ease
• recreation

Further reading

• leisure on Wikipedia.Wikipedia