left
English[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
From Middle English left, luft, leoft, lift, lyft, from Old English left, lyft (“weak, clumsy, foolish”), attested in Old English lyftādl (“palsy, paralysis”), from Proto-Germanic *luft-, from *lubjaną (“to castrate, lop off”) (compare dialectal English lib, West Frisian lobje, Dutch lubben), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)lewp-, *(s)lup- (“hanging limply”). Compare Scots left (“left”), North Frisian lefts, leeft, leefts (“left”), West Frisian lofts (“left”), dialectal Dutch loof (“weak, worthless”), Low German lucht (“left”).
Alternative forms[edit]
- (political left): Left
Pronunciation[edit]
- (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA(key): /lɛft/
Audio (RP) (file) Audio (GA) (file) - Rhymes: -ɛft
Adjective[edit]
left (comparative more left or lefter, superlative most left or leftmost)
- Designating the side of the body toward the west when one is facing north; the opposite of right.
- (politics) Pertaining to the political left.
- 1941, George Orwell, The Lion and the Unicorn:
- It should be noted that there is now no intelligentsia that is not in some sense "Left". Perhaps the last right-wing intellectual was T. E. Lawrence. Since about 1930 everyone describable as an “intellectual” has lived in a state of chronic discontent with the existing order.
- Antonym: right
- 1941, George Orwell, The Lion and the Unicorn:
Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
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Adverb[edit]
left (not comparable)
- On the left side.
- Antonym: right
- Towards the left side.
- Antonym: right
- Turn left at the corner. NO! Your other left.
- Towards the political left.
- Antonym: right
- The East Coast of the US leans left in elections.
Derived terms[edit]
- left turn (interjection, verb)
Translations[edit]
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Noun[edit]
left (plural lefts)
- The left side or direction.
- (politics) The left-wing political parties as a group; citizens holding left-wing views as a group.
- The Left left workers behind, thinking they had a winning demographic coalition. It hasn't really worked out for them yet.
- The left hand or fist.
- (boxing) A punch delivered with the left fist.
- 1915, C.J. Dennis, The Songs of the Sentimental Bloke, published 1916, page 13:
- The world 'as got me snouted jist a treat; Crool Forchin's dirty left 'as smote me soul.
- (surfing) A wave breaking from left to right (viewed from the shore).
- Antonym: right
Synonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
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- 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 Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Etymology 2[edit]
From 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
- simple past tense and past participle of leave (“depart, separate from; (cause or allow to) remain”).
- 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 8, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:
- Afore we got to the shanty Colonel Applegate stuck his head out of the door. His temper had been getting raggeder all the time, and the sousing he got when he fell overboard had just about ripped what was left of it to ravellings.
- There's not much food left.
Translations[edit]
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Etymology 3[edit]
From Middle English levit, ilevet, y-levyd, from Old English ġelȳfd, ġelȳfed, past participle of Old English ġelȳfan, lȳfan (“to allow, permit”), equivalent to leave (“to give leave to, allow, grant, permit”) + -ed.
Verb[edit]
left
- simple past tense and past participle of leave (“permit”).
- 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.
Anagrams[edit]
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɛft
- Rhymes:English/ɛft/1 syllable
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English terms with usage examples
- en:Politics
- English adverbs
- English uncomparable adverbs
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Boxing
- English terms with quotations
- en:Surfing
- English non-lemma forms
- English verb forms
- English words suffixed with -ed
- English contranyms
- English irregular past participles
- English irregular simple past forms
- en:Directions