Re: easy

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, alexmoeller@... wrote:

> The etymology of wnglish word "easy" is said to come from "ease".
> "ease" commes from the old french word "aise" which

means "pleasure,

> comfort".
> The word "aise" itself, is of unknown origin.

The American Heritage Dictionary has 'aise' "perhaps from
Latin 'adiacens', 'lying near'", making it a doublet of 'adjacent'.
The semantic shift is certainly not obvious (nor the phonologic
shift, but that might be my problem). Anyone know the meaning
of 'aise' in old French that might explain it?
Dan Milton