lest

See also: lesť

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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɛst/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛst

Conjunction

lest

1. 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.

2. After certain expressions denoting fear or apprehension: that without the negative particle.
   • 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

for fear that

• Arabic: خِيفَةَ أَنَّ (ḵīfata ʔanna), مَخَافَةَ أَن (maḵāfata ʔan)
• Bulgarian: от страх да не (ot strah da ne)
• Czech: ze strachu, že ..., v případě, že ...
• Dutch: uit angst dat, tenzij (nl)
• French: de peur que
• Georgian: რათა არ (rata ar)
• German: fürchtend, dass; in der Furcht, dass
• Greek:

  Ancient: μή (mḗ), μήποτε (mḗpote)

• Hebrew: פֶּן (he) (pen)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hungarian: nehogy (hu)
• Irish: ar eagla go
• Italian: per paura che
• Khmer: ក្រែង (km) (kraeŋ)
• Maori: kei tūpono
• Portuguese: para que, a fim de que ... não
• Romanian: în caz că
• Russian: из страха, что
• Serbo-Croatian: iz straha da ne, da ne bi
• Slovene: da ne bi
• Spanish: no vaya a ser que...; por temor/miedo a...

that [...] not

• Bengali: পাছে (pache)
• Bulgarian: да не (da ne), за да не (za da ne)
• Czech: aby ... ne
• Finnish: ettei (fi), jottei
• French: pour que (fr) (+ ne ... pas + verb in subj. mood)
• German: bevor (de), auf dass nicht
• Greek:

  Ancient: μή (mḗ), μήποτε (mḗpote)

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hungarian: nehogy (hu)
• Latin: nē (la)
• Maori: kei
• Russian: чтобы не, и́на́че (ru) (ínáče)
• Serbo-Croatian: da ne (sh), kako ne ... (sh)
• Spanish: a fin de evitar ...
• Swedish: så att inte (literally)

that (without the negative particle)

• Latin: nē (la)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Romanian: care (ro)

See also

• judge not lest ye be judged
• in case
• lest we forget

Anagrams

• ELTs, LETS, LTEs, TESL, elts, let's, lets, tels

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Czech

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• audio:

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɛst/

Noun

lest f

1. trick, ruse
2. stratagem

Derived terms

• lstivý

Anagrams

• slet

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Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

lest

1. (deprecated template usage) second- and third-person singular present indicative of lessen
2. (deprecated template usage) (archaic) plural imperative of lessen

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French

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch last (“load, burden”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɛst/

• audio:

  (file)

Noun

lest m (plural lests)

1. dead weight; ballast

Derived terms

• lester

Further reading

• “lest”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• tels

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German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /leːst/

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

lest

1. inflection of lesen:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

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Hungarian

Etymology

les +‎ -t

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlɛʃt]
• Hyphenation: lest

Noun

lest

1. accusative singular of les

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Icelandic

Etymology

From Middle Low German last.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɛst/
• Rhymes: -ɛst

Noun

lest f (genitive singular lestar, nominative plural lestir)

1. train, file, row, line
2. railway train
3. cargo hold
4. ton
5. (obsolete) cargo, burden, load

Declension

declension of lest

f-s2	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	lest	lestin	lestir	lestirnar
accusative	lest	lestina	lestir	lestirnar
dative	lest	lestinni	lestum	lestunum
genitive	lestar	lestarinnar	lesta	lestanna

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”)

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Norwegian Bokmål

Verb

lest

1. past participle of lese

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Verb

lest

1. past of låst