LEAVE (3)

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. 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. 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.