Meanings
-
1
noun
law: a right to cross or use another person's land for a specified purpose without owning it
The deed grants the neighboring farm an easement across the private road.
-
2
noun
formal or archaic: the act of easing something unpleasant, or relief and comfort provided
The padded seat offered some easement during the long ceremony.
-
3
noun
architecture: a curved transition between straight or differently directed parts of a molding, baseboard, or handrail
The carpenter shaped an easement where the handrail turned toward the newel.
Thesaurus
Etymology
From Anglo-Norman and Middle French aisement, 'comfort, convenience, opportunity, or right of use,' from aisier, 'to ease or facilitate,' + -ment. The general relief sense is old; legal use specialized the word for a nonpossessory right exercised over another person's land.