Leesing

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An archaic word for the telling of lies or deliberate untruths, as used in older English and Scots writing
2. Old-fashioned term meaning falsehood, deception, or the act of speaking untruthfully
3. A dated expression for lying or fibbing, found mainly in older religious and literary texts

Etymology: "Leesing" is a rare, archaic noun meaning the telling of lies, and it is the gerund of "leese," a verb that once meant "to lose" in one sense and "to loosen or release" in another. The two senses come from different Old English verbs that collided in Middle English: "lēosan" meant "to lose," while "lȳsan" or "līesan" meant "to loosen, release, redeem, deliver." Both descend from Germanic roots built on the idea of cutting or separating, which is why the verb could drift toward losing something, or toward being set free from it. The sense of lying seems to come through the notion of "losing" the truth or leaving it behind, though the source does not pin down that link, so the connection is best taken as suggestive rather than proven. The word is cognate with German "lösen" and Dutch "lozen," which keep the "release" sense more clearly, and it shares a root with the French "léser" and Latin "laesus," meaning "injured" or "harmed."