What does leisure mean?

Definitions for leisure
ˈli ʒər, ˈlɛʒ ərleisure

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word leisure.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. leisure, leisure timenoun

    time available for ease and relaxation

    "his job left him little leisure"

  2. leisurenoun

    freedom to choose a pastime or enjoyable activity

    "he lacked the leisure for golf"

Wiktionary

  1. leisurenoun

    Freedom provided by the cessation of activities.

  2. leisurenoun

    Time free from work or duties.

  3. Etymology: leisir, from leisir, variant of loisir (Modern French loisir survives as a noun), substantive use of a verb, from licere. Displaced native lethe (from liþian "to unloose, release", compare liþung "permission"), tom# "leisure" (from tom "leisure, ease", compare tom "free from").

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. LEISUREnoun

    Etymology: loisir, French.

    A gentleman fell very sick, and a friend said to him, Send for a physician; but the sick man answered, It is no matter; for if I die, I will die at leisure. Francis Bacon, Apophthegms.

    Where ambition and avarice have made no entrance, the desire of leisure is much more natural than of business and care. William Temple.

    O happy youth!
    For whom thy fates reserve so fair a bride:
    He sigh’d, and had no leisure more to say,
    His honour call’d his eyes another way. John Dryden, Ovid.

    You enjoy your quiet in a garden, where you have not only the leisure of thinking, but the pleasure to think of nothing which can discompose your mind. Dryden.

    We’ll make our leisures to attend on yours. William Shakespeare.

    They summon’d up their meiny, strait took horse;
    Commanded me to follow, and attend
    The leisure of their answer. William Shakespeare, King Lear.

    I shall leave with him that very rational and emphatical rebuke of Marcus Tullius Cicero, To be considered at his leisure. John Locke.

    More than I have said, loving countrymen;
    The leisure and enforcement of the time
    Forbids to dwell on. William Shakespeare, Richard III.

Wikipedia

  1. Leisure

    Leisure has often been defined as a quality of experience or as free time. Free time is time spent away from business, work, job hunting, domestic chores, and education, as well as necessary activities such as eating and sleeping. Leisure as an experience usually emphasizes dimensions of perceived freedom and choice. It is done for "its own sake", for the quality of experience and involvement. Other classic definitions include Thorstein Veblen's (1899) of "nonproductive consumption of time." Free time is not easy to define due to the multiplicity of approaches used to determine its essence. Different disciplines have definitions reflecting their common issues: for example, sociology on social forces and contexts and psychology as mental and emotional states and conditions. From a research perspective, these approaches have an advantage of being quantifiable and comparable over time and place.Leisure studies and sociology of leisure are the academic disciplines concerned with the study and analysis of leisure. Recreation differs from leisure in that it is a purposeful activity that includes the experience of leisure in activity contexts. Economists consider that leisure times are valuable to a person like wages that they could earn for the same time spend towards the activity. If it were not, people would have worked instead of taking leisure. However, the distinction between leisure and unavoidable activities is not a rigidly defined one, e.g. people sometimes do work-oriented tasks for pleasure as well as for long-term utility. A related concept is social leisure, which involves leisurely activities in social settings, such as extracurricular activities, e.g. sports, clubs. Another related concept is that of family leisure. Relationships with others is usually a major factor in both satisfaction and choice. The concept of leisure as a human right was realised in article 24 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

ChatGPT

  1. leisure

    Leisure refers to free time that an individual gets to enjoy outside of work and essential daily duties. It is a period of relaxation, recreation, or discretionary activities that one engages in for enjoyment, entertainment, or self-development. This includes hobbies, sports, or other activities that provide pleasure and reduce stress.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Leisurenoun

    freedom from occupation or business; vacant time; time free from employment

  2. Leisurenoun

    time at one's command, free from engagement; convenient opportunity; hence, convenience; ease

  3. Leisureadjective

    unemployed; as, leisure hours

  4. Etymology: [OE. leisere, leiser, OF. leisir, F. loisir, orig., permission, fr. L. licere to be permitted. See License.]

Wikidata

  1. Leisure

    Leisure, or free time, is time spent away from business, work, and domestic chores. It also excludes time spent on necessary activities such as eating, sleeping and, where it is compulsory, education. The distinction between leisure and unavoidable activities is not a rigidly defined one, e.g. people sometimes do work-oriented tasks for pleasure as well as for long-term utility. A distinction may also be drawn between free time and leisure. For example, Situationist International maintains that free time is illusory and rarely free; economic and social forces appropriate free time from the individual and sell it back to them as the commodity known as "leisure". Certainly most people's leisure activities are not a completely free choice, and may be constrained by social pressures, e.g. people may be coerced into spending time gardening by the need to keep up with the standard of neighbouring gardens. Leisure studies is the academic discipline concerned with the study and analysis of leisure.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Leisure

    lē′zhōōr, or lezh′-, n. time free from employment: freedom from occupation, convenient opportunity, ease.—adj. unoccupied.—adj. Lei′sured, not occupied with business.—adj. and adv. Lei′surely, not hasty or hastily.—At leisure, At one's leisure, free from occupation, at one's ease or convenience. [O. Fr. leisir—L. licēre, to be permitted.]

The Foolish Dictionary, by Gideon Wurdz

  1. LEISURE

    From Eng., _lazy_, and _sure_; assured laziness.

Editors Contribution

  1. leisure

    Activity doing what we love or choose.

    Leisure time is important for every human being.


    Submitted by MaryC on February 16, 2020  

Suggested Resources

  1. Leisure

    Leisure vs. Pleasure -- In this Grammar.com article you will learn the differences between the words Leisure and Pleasure.

Surnames Frequency by Census Records

  1. LEISURE

    According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Leisure is ranked #17229 in terms of the most common surnames in America.

    The Leisure surname appeared 1,644 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 would have the surname Leisure.

    91.3% or 1,501 total occurrences were White.
    2.9% or 48 total occurrences were Black.
    2.3% or 38 total occurrences were of two or more races.
    2.1% or 35 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
    0.7% or 12 total occurrences were Asian.
    0.6% or 10 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.

Matched Categories

British National Corpus

  1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'leisure' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #3433

  2. Written Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'leisure' in Written Corpus Frequency: #3653

  3. Nouns Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'leisure' in Nouns Frequency: #1426

How to pronounce leisure?

How to say leisure in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of leisure in Chaldean Numerology is: 7

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of leisure in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8

Examples of leisure in a Sentence

  1. W. N. Taylor:

    Temptation rarely comes in working hours. It is in their leisure time that men are made or marred.

  2. Henry David Thoreau:

    He enjoys true leisure who has time to improve his soul's estate.

  3. Brian Major:

    I tell anyone who is traveling out of the country on any sort of leisure (or business) trip to purchase travel insurance, i was really convinced by the EMS folks who transported me from Panama to Florida. After talking with them and realizing how often they evacuated folks out of unexpected situations, I realized it was pretty foolish to travel all these years without travel insurance.

  4. Noah Syken:

    We engage in partnerships like with The US Open, or any of our other sports partnerships, because we believe that people have a passion for tennis, if we can deliver an amazing experience through an activity that they love and believe in and spend their leisure time in, when they go back to their office and have a decision to make about what they're operating in The US Open, they'll think of IBM.

  5. Jeanne-Marie Roland:

    People who know how to employ themselves, always find leisure moments, while those who do nothing are forever in a hurry.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

leisure#1#3291#10000

Translations for leisure

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"leisure." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/leisure>.

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1 Comment
  • Khaleed Sampang
    Khaleed Sampang
    d loko te!
    LikeReply9 years ago

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