left

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[edit] English

[edit] Etymology 1

Middle English, left, lift, luft, from Old English left, lyft 'weak, useless', from Proto-Germanic *luft- (compare North Frisian leeft 'left', Dutch dialect loof 'weak, worthless', Low German dialect lucht 'left'), from *lubjanan 'to castrate, lop off' (cf. English dialect lib, West Frisian lobje, Dutch lubben), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)leup, *(s)lup 'hanging limply'. More at lob, lop.

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Adjective

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.
[edit] Translations
[edit] Synonyms
[edit] Antonyms
[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Adverb

left (not comparable)

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

[edit] Noun

left (plural lefts)

  1. The left side.
  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.
[edit] Translations
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.
[edit] Synonyms
[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Etymology 2

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

[edit] Verb

left

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

[edit] Etymology 3

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.

[edit] Verb

left

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

[edit] References

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

[edit] Statistics

[edit] Anagrams

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