To grant temporary ownership
To occupy temporarily under another's terms
An extraordinarily American word.
Housing, bodies, labor, marriage, even reproduction — all under lease. The illusion of possession while someone else retains structural ownership.
You can lease a home, a car, a womb, a relationship. You never truly own it. The terms are always dictated elsewhere.
This is the quiet violence of precarity dressed up as opportunity. English perfectly captures late-stage capitalism's favorite trick: giving you just enough control to feel responsible when it all falls apart.