lost

See also: Lost, löst, løst, and łöst

English

Alternative forms

• los'
• loss

Etymology

From Middle English loste, losede (preterite) and Middle English lost, ilost, ilosed (past participle), from Old English losode (preterite) and Old English losod, ġelosod, equivalent to lose +‎ -t.

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: lŏst, IPA^(key): /lɒst/
• (UK, dated) enPR: lôst, IPA^(key): /lɔːst/
• (US) enPR: lôst, IPA^(key): /lɔst/
• (cot–caught merger) enPR: läst, IPA^(key): /lɑst/

• Audio (CA)

  (file)

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒst, -ɔːst

Verb

lost

1. simple past tense and past participle of lose

Derived terms

• long-lost
• no love lost

Adjective

lost (comparative loster or more lost, superlative lostest or most lost)

1. Having wandered from, or unable to find, the way.

   The children were soon lost in the forest.

2. In an unknown location; unable to be found.

   Deep beneath the ocean, the Titanic was lost to the world.

3. Not perceptible to the senses; no longer visible.

   an island lost in a fog; a person lost in a crowd

4. Parted with; no longer held or possessed.

   a lost limb; lost honour

5. Not employed or enjoyed; thrown away; employed ineffectually; wasted; squandered.

   a lost day; a lost opportunity or benefit; no time should be lost

6. Ruined or destroyed, either physically or morally; past help or hope.

   a ship lost at sea; a woman lost to virtue; a lost soul

   • 1887, H. Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure‎^[1]:

     They struck me also as being of surpassing interest as representing, probably with studious accuracy, the last rites of the dead as practised among an utterly lost people, and even then I thought how envious some antiquarian friends of my own at Cambridge would be if ever I found an opportunity of describing these wonderful remains to them.

7. Hardened beyond sensibility or recovery; alienated; insensible.

   lost to shame; lost to all sense of honour

8. Occupied with, or under the influence of, something, so as not to notice external things.

   to be lost in thought

Derived terms

Terms derived from lost (adjective)

• get lost
• lost and found
• lost cause
• lost errand
• lost for words
• lost generation
• lost in action
• lost neutral
• lost property
• lost river
• lost sheep
• lost to the world
• Lost Tribes
• lost wages
• lost wax
• lost with all hands
• one who hesitates is lost

 

Translations

unable to find one's way

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: կորած (hy) (korac), մոլորված (molorvac)
• Asturian: perdíu
• Azerbaijani: azmış
• Brunei Malay: sasat
• Catalan: perdut (ca)
• Cherokee: ᎤᎴᎾᎯᏛ (ulenahidv)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 迷路 (zh) (mílù)

• Danish: vildfaren, faret vild
• Esperanto: perdita
• Finnish: eksynyt, eksyksissä (fi)
• French: perdu (fr)
• Galician: perdido
• German: verirrt (de), verloren (de), umher irrend, orientierungslos (de)
• Greek: χαμένος (el) m (chaménos)
• Hebrew: אבוד‎ (he) m (a'vud), אבודה‎ f (a'vuda)

• Hungarian: elveszett (hu)
• Icelandic: týndur (is), villtur (is)
• Indonesian: tersesat (id)
• Irish: ar strae
• Italian: perso (it)
• Khmer: វង្វេង (km) (vʊəngveing)
• Korean: 길을 잃어버리다 (gireul ireobeorida), 길을 잃다 (gireul ilta)
• Latin: (expressed by) dēsīderārī , perditus
• Malay: sesat, hilang (ms)
• Maori: ngaro
• Mirandese: perdidoso
• Persian: مفقود‎ (fa) (mafqud), گم‌‎ (gom)
• Polish: zagubiony
• Portuguese: perdido (pt)
• Romanian: pierdut (ro)
• Russian: заблуди́вшийся (ru) (zabludívšijsja)
• Sicilian: pirdutu (scn)
• Spanish: perdido (es)
• Swedish: vilse (sv)
• Vietnamese: lạc (vi) (落)

in an unknown location

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: կորած (hy) (korac), կորուսյալ (hy) (korusyal)
• Brunei Malay: ilang
• Bulgarian: изгу́бен (bg) (izgúben)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 被遺失 (zh), 被遗失 (zh) (bèiyíshī)

• Danish: forsvundet
• Dutch: kwijt (nl)
• Esperanto: perdita
• Finnish: kadonnut (fi), kadoksissa (fi), hukassa
• French: perdu (fr)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can

• German: verschollen (de), verloren (de), verirrt (de)
• Greek: χαμένος (el) m (chaménos)
• Icelandic: týndur (is)
• Irish: caillte
• Italian: perso (it), smarrito (it)
• Latin: āmissus, (expressed by) dēsīderārī
• Maori: ngaro
• Norwegian: tapt (no)
• Persian: مفقود‎ (fa) (mafqud), گم‎ (fa) (gom)
• Polish: zagubiony
• Portuguese: perdido (pt), extraviado (pt)
• Russian: поте́рянный (ru) (potérjannyj)
• Spanish: perdido (es)
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

not perceptible to the senses; no longer visible

• Finnish: kadonnut (fi)
• German: unauffindbar (de)

parted with; no longer held or possessed

• Finnish: menetetty (fi), hukattu (fi)
• German: verloren (de), verlustig (de), weg (de), -los (de)

• Polish: stracony (pl)

not employed or enjoyed; thrown away

• Finnish: hukattu (fi)

• German: rausgeschmissen (de), rausgeworfen

ruined or destroyed

• Finnish: kadonnut (fi), kadotettu (fi)

hardened beyond sensibility or recovery

• Finnish: paatunut (fi)

occupied with, or under the influence of, something

• Finnish: uppoutunut

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.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} verloren (nl), ^{(please verify)} verdwaald (nl)
• French: ^{(please verify)} perdu (fr)
• Georgian: ^{(please verify)} დაკარგული (daḳarguli)
• German: ^{(please verify)} verloren (de)
• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} kehilangan (id), ^{(please verify)} kalah (id)
• Irish: ^{(please verify)} caillte, ^{(please verify)} easpach
• Japanese: ^{(please verify)} 失った (うしなった, ushinatta), 負けた (まけた, maketa)

• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 잃다 (ko) (ilta)
• Maori: ^{(please verify)} ngaro
• Romanian: ^{(please verify)} pierdut (ro)
• Russian: ^{(please verify)} недосту́пный (ru) (nedostúpnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: ^{(please verify)} caillte
• Vietnamese: ^{(please verify)} bị mất

Anagrams

• LTOs, OSLT, OTLs, STOL, lots, slot, tols

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Breton

Etymology

Cognate with Welsh llost, Cornish lost, Gaulish losto-, from Proto-Celtic *lustā, from the Proto-Indo-European root *leu- "to divide, to split", possibly related to Old Norse ljósta (“to strike”), Proto-Germanic *leustaną.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlɔst]

Noun

lost m (plural lostoù)

1. A tail.
2. (informal) a cock, a penis.

   Ha ma lost bras 'zo bet troc'het

   And my big penis was cut off (from a Breton bawdy song)

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Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔst

Verb

lost

1. second- and third-person singular present indicative of lossen
2. (archaic) plural imperative of lossen

Adjective

lost

1. Superlative form of los

Anagrams

• slot, stol

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German

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /loːst/

Verb

lost

1. inflection of losen:
   1. second/third-person singular present
   2. second-person plural present
   3. plural imperative

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English lost.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɔst/

Adjective

lost (strong nominative masculine singular loster, not comparable)

1. (slang) clueless, confused; lost; vain

Further reading

• “lost” in Duden online
• “lost” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache