leave
verb
- depart; go away from a certain place or state
- defer action to another
- abandon something in exchange for another; permanently leave an association/relationship/way of living
- allow to remain or to continue by inaction, agent cannot be moving
- resulting from an event or situation
- exist or remain (potentially after others were removed)
- bequeath, as in a will
- put in a location/state when physically leaving
- Put off or postpone something
- lack; leave something to be desired
noun
- voting option in a membership referendum
- permission
- absence from work
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈliːv/ / [ˈlɪi̯v]
noun
Etymology: From Middle English leve, from Old English lēaf (“permission, privilege”), from Proto-Germanic *laubō, *laubą (“permission, privilege, favour, worth”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewbʰ- (“to love, hold dear”). Cognate with obsolete German Laube (“permission”), Swedish lov (“permission”), Icelandic leyfi (“permission”). Related to Dutch verlof, German Urlaub, Erlaubnis, Verlaub. See also love.
- Permission to be absent; time away from one's work.
“I've just been given three weeks' leave by my boss — I don't think I still have some leave owing to me.”
- Permission.
“Might I beg leave to accompany you?”
“The applicant now seeks leave to appeal and, if leave be granted, to appeal against these sentences.”
- Farewell, departure.
“I took my leave of the gentleman without a backward glance.”
verb
Etymology: From French lever. Compare levy. Compare also Middle English leve, a variant of levy that may have been monosyllabic.
- To raise; to levy.
“[…]au^([sic – meaning an]) army ſtrong ſhe leau'd,[…]”