1. an act or means of easing or relieving (as from discomfort)

2. an interest in land owned by another that entitles its holder to a specific limited use or enjoyment also an area of land covered by an easement

3. an interest in land owned by another that entitles its holder to a specific limited use or enjoyment (as the right to cross the land or have a view continue unobstructed over it) — see also dominant estate and servient estate at estate sense 4 — compare license, profit sense 2, right-of-way, servitude — affirmative easement an easement entitling a person to do something affecting the land of another that would constitute trespass or a nuisance if not for the easement — compare negative easement in this entry

4. an easement whose existence is detectable by its outward appearance (as by the presence of a water pipe)

5. easement appurtenant in this entry

6. an easement in which the owner of the land burdened by the easement retains the privilege of sharing the benefits of the easement — called also nonexclusive easement — compare exclusive easement in this entry

7. an easement granted by a landowner to a public or private entity (as a land trust) in which the landowner agrees to restrictions on use of the land (as from development) and the holder agrees to enforce the restrictions

8. an easement that will terminate upon the happening of a specific event or contingency

9. an easement attached to and benefiting a dominant estate and burdening a servient estate — compare easement in gross in this entry Note: Easements appurtenant run with the land and are therefore passed when the property is transferred.

10. an easement that is created when the conduct of the owner of land leads another to reasonably believe that he or she has an interest in the land so that he or she acts or does not act in reliance on that belief

11. an easement that is created by operation of law when an owner severs property into two parcels in such a way that an already existing, obvious, and continuous use of one parcel (as for access) is necessary for the reasonable enjoyment of the other parcel — called also easement by necessity, implied easement, way of necessity

12. an easement created by the open, notorious, uninterrupted, hostile, and adverse use of another's land for 20 years or for a period set by statute — called also prescriptive easement

13. an easement that is a personal right of its holder to a use of another's land and that is not dependent on ownership of a dominant estate — called also personal easement — compare easement appurtenant in this entry Note: Utility companies often own easements in gross.

14. an easement that the holder has the right to enjoy to the exclusion of all others — compare common easement in this entry

15. easement by implication in this entry

16. an easement that entitles the holder to prevent the owner of land from using the land for a purpose or in a way that would otherwise be permitted

17. common easement in this entry

18. easement in gross in this entry

19. easement by prescription in this entry

20. the use by the owner of two adjoining parcels of land of one of the parcels to benefit the other Note: A quasi easement may become an easement upon the transfer of one or both of the parcels.

21. an easement created by operation of law and held by the owner of a lot in a residential development that entitles the holder to enforce restrictions that were part of the general development scheme against the developer and subsequent buyers who purchase free of the restrictions