easy

Meanings

1. 1
   adv

   without effort, easily

   I completed the test easy.

2. 2
   adv

   without speed

   I walked easy around the block.

3. 3
   adj

   obtained with little effort or sacrifice, often obtained illegally

   There was some easy money to be had in pickpocketing.

4. 4
   adj

   less in demand and therefore readily obtainable

   Commodities are easy this quarter.

5. 5
   adj

   casual and unrestrained in sexual behavior

   Their prudish cousins heard rumours that they were easy.

6. 6
   adj

   affording comfort

   The soft light was easy on my eyes.

7. 7
   adj

   posing no difficulty

   Everyone thought the test was easy.

8. 8
   adj

   free from worry or anxiety

   Knowing that I had done my best, my mind was easy.

Etymology

From Middle English esy, eesy, partly from Middle English ese (“ease”) + -y, equivalent to ease + -y, and partly from Anglo-Norman eisé from Old French aisié (“eased, at ease, at leisure”), past participle of aisier (“to put at ease”), from aise (“empty space, elbow room, opportunity”), of uncertain origin. See ease. Merged with Middle English ethe, eathe (“easy”), from Old English īeþe, from Proto-Germanic *auþuz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éwtus, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew- (“to enjoy, consume”). Compare also Old Saxon ōþi, Old High German ōdi, Old Norse auðr, auð-, Icelandic auð (adver…