A condition of comfort untroubled by pain, worry, effort, or restriction.
A condition of comfort untroubled by pain, worry, effort, or restriction — well-being together with the absence of difficulty.
Comfort and the absence of difficulty, spanning both inner comfort (freedom from pain or care — “set your mind at ease”) and outward effortlessness (“with ease,” “ease of manner”). Unlike relief, ease can be a baseline condition rather than the easing of a specific trouble; unlike peace, it centers on comfort and absence of difficulty rather than absence of disturbance; unlike placidity, it implies nothing about temperament; unlike repose, it need not involve rest or stillness — one can act “with ease” in motion.
c. 1200 “physical comfort, peace of mind,” from Old French aise “comfort, well-being; opportunity,” of uncertain origin (now usually traced to Latin adiacens “lying near”). Its antonym dis-ease gave rise to disease.
Arrived c. 1200 with the dual sense of bodily comfort and mental tranquility, both of which persist. “At ease” is from the late 14c.; the military command “at ease” from 1802. The core emotional sense has been stable. No reliable recent-generation shift.