lest
English
Etymology
c. 1200, contracted from Middle English les te (“less that”), from Old English þy læs þe (“whereby less that”), from þy (instrumental case of demonstrative article þæt “that”) + læs (“less”) + þe (“the”). The þy was dropped and the remaining two words contracted into leste.[1]
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -ɛst
Conjunction
lest
- For fear that; that not; in order that not; in case.
- Synonym: (informal) before
- He won’t go outside, lest he be eaten by those ravenous eagles.
- 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i], page 15, column 2:
- I thought to haue told thee of it, but I fear'd / Leaſt I might anger thee.
- 1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 565:
- And then Robert Loo came out swiftly with the half-filled jar lest more be said.
- 1967, “I Am a Lonesome Hobo”, in Bob Dylan (music), John Wesley Harding[1]:
- Stay free from petty jealousies / Live by no man's code / And hold your judgment for yourself / Lest you wind up on this road
- 2013 July 27, “Lunacy?”, in The Economist[2], volume 408, number 8846:
- Lest any astrologer reading this result get cocky, Dr Cajochen does not believe that what he has found is directly influenced by the Moon through, say, some tidal effect. What he thinks he has discovered is an additional hand on the body’s clock-face.
- After certain expressions denoting fear or apprehension: that without the negative particle.
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 797: Parameter "quote" is not used by this template.
- 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 4, in The Celebrity:
- Mr. Cooke at once began a tirade against the residents of Asquith for permitting a sandy and generally disgraceful condition of the roads. So roundly did he vituperate the inn management in particular, and with such a loud flow of words, that I trembled lest he should be heard on the veranda.
Usage notes
The word lest is always followed by the subjunctive mood, usually in either the present or future tense.
For example: Lest they be captured, the soldiers fled from the battlefield.
- Let him attend the ceremony which commemorates the achievements of his ancestors, lest he forget.
The future subjunctive would simply employ the auxiliary word should.
- Let us get to the station early, lest we should miss our connection.
Translations
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See also
References
- ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “lest”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Anagrams
Czech
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation
Noun
lest f
Declension
Derived terms
Anagrams
Dutch
Pronunciation
Audio: (file)
Verb
lest
- (deprecated template usage) second- and third-person singular present indicative of lessen
- (deprecated template usage) (archaic) plural imperative of lessen
French
Etymology
Borrowed from Dutch last (“load, burden”).
Pronunciation
Noun
lest m (plural lests)
Derived terms
Further reading
- “lest”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams
German
Pronunciation
Verb
lest
- inflection of lesen:
Hungarian
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
lest
Icelandic
Etymology
From Middle Low German last.
Pronunciation
Noun
lest f (genitive singular lestar, nominative plural lestir)
Declension
Synonyms
- (train, file): röð
- (railway train): járnbrautarlest
- (cargo hold): lestarrúm, vörurúm
- (ton): tonn
- (cargo, burden): byrði, farmur
Derived terms
- bílalest (“convoy of cars”)
- hraðlest (“high speed train”)
- járnbrautarlest (“railroad train”)
- neðanjarðarlest (“underground train”)
- rúmlest (“register ton”)
- skipalest (“convoy of ships”)
- smálest (“metric ton”)
- ulfaldalest (“convoy of camels”)
Related terms
- lesta (“to load, to fill with cargo”)
Norwegian Bokmål
Verb
lest
- past participle of lese
Norwegian Nynorsk
Verb
lest
- 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 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
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- Rhymes:English/ɛst
- English lemmas
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- Czech terms with audio links
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- Rhymes:Icelandic/ɛst
- Icelandic lemmas
- Icelandic nouns
- Icelandic feminine nouns
- Icelandic countable nouns
- Icelandic terms with obsolete senses
- Norwegian Bokmål non-lemma forms
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