Last

See also: last, läst, låst, and læst

English

Etymology

Various origins:

• English metonymic occupational surname for a cobbler, from last (“a tool for shaping shoes”). Compare Laster.
• Also as an English surname, from the adjective last.
• Borrowed from Dutch and German Last, an occupational surname for a porter (see the German entry below).

Proper noun

Last (plural Lasts)

1. A surname.

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Last is the 15922^nd most common surname in the United States, belonging to 1825 individuals. Last is most common among White (92.66%) individuals.

Further reading

• Hanks, Patrick, editor (2003), “Last”, in Dictionary of American Family Names, volume 2, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 400.

German

Etymology

From Middle High German last, from Old High German last, hlast, from Proto-Germanic *hlastuz, from Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂- (“to put, lay out”), whence English laden. Compare English last and ballast.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /last/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophone: lasst

Noun

Last f (genitive Last, plural Lasten)

1. load, burden
   • 1921, Elisabeth von Heyking, Die Trommel, in Weberin Schuld, G. Grote'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, page 18:

     Und sie ging gebückt, als trage sie eine schwere Last, […]

     And she walked bowed as if she carried a heavy load, […]

Declension

Declension of Last [feminine]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Last	die	Lasten
genitive	einer	der	Last	der	Lasten
dative	einer	der	Last	den	Lasten
accusative	eine	die	Last	die	Lasten

Derived terms

• Altlast
• Grundlast
• lästig

Related terms

• belästigen
• laden
• Laden

Further reading

• “Last” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Last” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “Last” in Duden online
• Last on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^de
• Friedrich Kluge (1883) “Last”, in John Francis Davis, transl., Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, published 1891