lætan
Old English edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-West Germanic *lātan.
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
lǣtan
- to let, allow
- Exeter Book, Chrtist A, The Navitivity
- ...Ne lǣt awyrġde ofer us onwald āgan...
- Let not the accursed have power over us...
- c. 992, Ælfric, "Sermon on the Beginning of Creation"
- God lēt hīe habban āgenne cyre swā hīe heora Sċieppend lufoden and folgoden swā hīe hine forlēten.
- God let them have their own choice whether to love and follow their creator or abandon him.
- c. 992, Ælfric, "On the Lord's Prayer"
- God lǣt him fierst þæt hē his māndǣda ġeswīce.
- God gives (lit. allows) him time to stop his misdeeds.
- Blickling Homilies, "The Third Sunday in Lent"
- Ēalā þū ġītsiġenda and welega, hwæt dēst þū þē ġif Dryhten on þē ġenimþ nigon dǣlas þīnes welan and þē lǣtt þone tēoðan dǣl ǣnne habban?
- You greedy rich people, what are you going to do if the Lord takes ninety percent of your wealth and only lets you have ten percent of it?
- c. 992, Ælfric, "On the Festival of St. Peter the Apostle"
- Petrus cnocode forþ oþ þæt hīe hine inn lēton.
- Peter kept knocking until they let him in.
- Exeter Book, Chrtist A, The Navitivity
- to have someone do something, have something done
- late 9th century, translation of Bede's Ecclesiastical History
- Hē sette scōle and on þǣre hē lēt cneohtas lǣran.
- He founded a school and had boys taught there.
- c. 996, Ælfric's Lives of Saints, "St. Euphrasia, Virgin"
- Þā þæt ċild wæs seofonwintre, þā lēton hīe hīe fulwian and nemdon hīe Euphrosyne.
- When the child was seven, they had her baptized and named her Euphrosyne.
- Blickling Homilies, "The Annunciation of Saint Mary"
- God ne lǣtt ūs nā costnian ofer ġemet.
- God won't have us tempted more than we can handle.
- late 9th century, translation of Bede's Ecclesiastical History
- to leave someone/something in a certain situation
- c. 992, Ælfric, "The Nativity of St. Paul the Apostle"
- Sē hālga Paulus wæs ġestǣned oþ dēaþ, swā þæt þā ēhteras hine for dēadne lēton, ac þæs on morgne hē ārās and fērde ymb his bodunge.
- Saint Paul was stoned so severely that the attackers left him for dead, but then in the morning he got up and went back to preaching.
- 1038, charter concerning Harold Harefoot
- Sē ærċebisċop lēt hit eall tō heora āgene rǣde.
- The archbishop left it all to their own discretion.
- c. 992, Ælfric, "Easter Sunday"
- Þā mānfullan hē lēt bæftan tō ēċum wītum.
- The wicked he left behind to suffer eternal torment.
- late 10th century, Ælfric, the Old English Hexateuch, Exodus 21:27
- Ġif hwā his wēales tōþ of āslēa, lǣt hine friġne.
- If someone knocks their slave's tooth out, set them free.
- c. 992, Ælfric, "The Nativity of St. Paul the Apostle"
- to suppose
Usage notes edit
- In sense 2 (“to have something done, have someone do something”), lǣtan is used with the infinitive of the following verb, not the past participle: Iċ lēt hine tō Engla lande bringan þæt hē wiþ mīne lǣċas rēde (“I had him brought [lit. let bring him] over to England to consult with my doctors”).
Conjugation edit
Conjugation of lǣtan (strong class 7)
| infinitive | lǣtan | lǣtenne |
|---|---|---|
| indicative mood | present tense | past tense |
| first person singular | lǣte | lēt, leort |
| second person singular | lǣtst | lēte, leorte |
| third person singular | lǣtt, lǣt | lēt, leort |
| plural | lǣtaþ | lēton, leorton |
| subjunctive | present tense | past tense |
| singular | lǣte | lēte, leorte |
| plural | lǣten | lēten, leorten |
| imperative | ||
| singular | lǣt | |
| plural | lǣtaþ | |
| participle | present | past |
| lǣtende | (ġe)lǣten | |