Emily Dickinson Lexicon

LEAVE, n. [Sax. leaf, lefe, from leafan, lefan, lyfan, to permit, to grant, to trust, to believe; G. erlaub, D. oorlof, verlof, leave, furlow; Sax. leofan, to live, and to leave.]

1. Permission; allowance; license; liberty granted by which restraint or illegality is removed. No friend has leave to bear away the dead. – Dryden. David earnestly asked leave of me. – 1 Sam. xx.
2. Farewell; adieu; ceremony of departure; a formal parting of friends; used chiefly in the phrase to take leave. – Acts xviii.