Leave, n. [OE. leve, leave, AS. leáf; akin to leóf pleasing, dear, E. lief, D. oorlof leave, G. arlaub, and erlauben to permit, Icel. leyfi. √124. See Lief.] 1. Liberty granted by which restraint or illegality is removed; permission; allowance; license.
David earnestly asked leave of me. 1 Sam. xx. 6.
No friend has leave to bear away the dead. Dryden.
2. The act of leaving or departing; a formal parting; a leaving; farewell; adieu; — used chiefly in the phrase, to take leave, i.e., literally, to take permission to go.
A double blessing is a'double grace;
Occasion smiles upon a second leave. Shak.
And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren. Acts xviii. 18.
French leave. See under French.
Syn. — See Liberty.