left

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English [edit]

Etymology 1 [edit]

From Middle English left, luft, leoft, lift, lyft, from Old English left, lyft (“weak, useless”), from Proto-Germanic *luft- (compare Scots left (“left”), North Frisian lefts, leeft, leefts (“left”), West Frisian lofts (“left”), dialectal Dutch loof (“weak, worthless”), dialectal Low German lucht (“left”), from *lubjanan "to castrate, lop off" (compare dialectal English lib, West Frisian lobje, Dutch lubben), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)leup, *(s)lup "hanging limply". More at lob, lop.

Pronunciation [edit]

Adjective [edit]

left (comparative more left; lefter, superlative leftmost)

  1. The opposite of right; toward the west when one is facing north.
    Turn left at the corner.
  2. (politics) pertaining to the political left; liberal.
The fruit to the viewer's left is smaller.
Translations [edit]
the west side of the body when one is facing north
pertaining to the political left; liberal
Synonyms [edit]
Antonyms [edit]
Derived terms [edit]

Adverb [edit]

left (not comparable)

  1. On the left side.
  2. Towards the left side.
Translations [edit]
on the left side
towards the left side

Noun [edit]

left (plural lefts)

  1. The left side or direction.
  2. (politics) The ensemble of left-wing political parties. Those holding left-wing views as a group.
    The political left is not holding enough power.
  3. (boxing) A punch delivered with the left fist.
Translations [edit]
the left side
the ensemble of left-wing political parties
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked
Synonyms [edit]
Derived terms [edit]

Etymology 2 [edit]

Middle English left, variant of laft (“remaining, left”), from Old English lǣfd, ġelǣfd, past participle of lǣfan (“to leave”). More at leave.

Verb [edit]

left

  1. simple past tense and past participle of leave
  2. remaining
    There are only three cups of juice left.
Translations [edit]
remaining

Etymology 3 [edit]

From a verbal use of leave (“permission”), perhaps connected to Middle English leven (“to give leave to, permit, concede”), from Old English līefan, lȳfan (“to allow”). More at leave.

Verb [edit]

left

  1. (Ireland, colloquial) permitted, allowed to proceed.
    We were not left go to the beach after school except on a weekend.

References [edit]

  • The Concise Dictionary of English Etymology, Walter W. Skeat.

Statistics [edit]

Anagrams [edit]

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