Word Confusion: Leased versus Least

Posted September 15, 2022 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

Revised as of
16 Jan 2023

This word confusion leased versus least is a pair of heterographs (a subset of homophone).

Leased is a past tense verb that indicates a person (or company) who grants a contract, a lease, to another person (or company) to rent or use property, goods, or services.

Least is the opposite of most and describes something that is in the lowest position or degree, the smallest, the most unimportant.

Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.

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Leased	Least
A Broker Handing the Key to Her Client by Mikhail Nilov is under the CC0 license, via Pexels. — That car is leased!	Ordering of Creative Commons licenses From Most to Least Permissive by Creative Commons.org is under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons.
Part of Grammar:
Morpheme: lease Noun ¹, ²; Verb ¹, intransitive & transitive Plural for the noun: leases Gerund: leasing Third person present verb: leases Past tense or past participle: leased Present participle: leasing	Adjective; Adverb; Determiner; Pronoun
Noun: A contract by which one party conveys land, property, services, etc., to another for a specified time, usually in return for a periodic payment ¹ [Textiles] A system for keeping the warp in position and under control by alternately crossing the warp yarn over and under the lease rods ² The order of drawing in the warp ends Verb, intransitive: To grant a temporary possession or use ¹ Let or rent Verb, transitive: Grant (property) on the temporary possession or use of (lands, tenements, etc.) to another, usually for compensation at a fixed rate ¹ Let Take (property) on temporary possession or use Rent	Adjective: Used in names of very small animals and plants Small in size, amount, or degree (often used to convey an appealing diminutiveness or express an affectionate or condescending attitude) [Of a person] Young or younger Denoting something, especially a place, that is named after a similar larger one Used in names of animals and plants that are smaller than related kinds Of short distance or duration Relatively unimportant or trivial (often used ironically) Adverb: To the smallest extent or degree Determiner: [Usually the least] Smallest in amount, extent, or significance [a little] To a small extent [Used for emphasis] Only to a small extent Not much or often Hardly or not at all Pronoun: [Usually the least] The smallest amount, extent, or significance
Examples:
Noun: They took a six-month lease on a shop. Plastic surgery gave him a new lease on life. In a single-net lease, the tenant has to pay the property taxes. “Lease rods were found in some form on every later type of improved loom, and their use at this very early date indicates that the loom already had been in use long enough to have reached a stage of improvement by addition of devices to aid the hands” (Kuiper). Verb, intransitive: We’re leasing now. We want to lease at a lower rental. The vacation house leased for $500 a week. The neighbors have leased to students in the past. Verb, transitive: She leased the site to a local company. The land was leased from the city. She plans to lease her apartment to a friend. He leased the farm from the sheriff.	Adjective: The North American least shrew is one of the smallest mammals, growing only to three inches long. It’s least on my list of worries. The least noise would startle her. Adverb: My best routine was the one I had practiced the least. He had a knack for showing up when he was least expected. Only the least expensive lot sold. I never hid the truth, least of all from you. He reminded me least of all of my parents. I wasn’t the least afraid of her. He was least known in this country. Determiner: Who has the least money? He never had the least idea what to do about it. “The least water we could find there was 4 fathoms, which bears from the point S.E., and is distant 1½ mile” (Blunt). Pronoun: How others see me is the least of my worries. It’s the least I can do.
Derivatives:
Adjective: leasable, leaseless, unleasable Noun: lessee, leaser	Adverb: least, less, lessor
History of the Word:
Late Middle English from the Old French lais, leis, from lesser, laissier meaning let, leave, from the Latin laxare meaning make loose, from laxus meaning loose, lax. 1350–1400; Middle English lese meaning length or coil of thread, a variant of leash.	Old English lǣst, lǣsest, is of Germanic origin and related to less.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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