Wiktionary

last

See also: Last, läst, låst, and læst

English

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English numbers (edit)
1 2  → [a], [b], [c]
    Cardinal: one
    Ordinal: first
    Abbreviated ordinal: 1st
    Latinate ordinal: primary
    Reverse order ordinal: last
    Latinate reverse order ordinal: ultimate
    Adverbial: one time, once
    Multiplier: onefold
    Latinate multiplier: single
    Distributive: singly
    Germanic collective: onesome
    Collective of n parts: singlet, singleton
    Greek or Latinate collective: monad
    Greek collective prefix: mono-
    Latinate collective prefix: uni-
    Fractional: whole
    Elemental: singlet, singleton
    Greek prefix: proto-
    Number of musicians: solo
    Number of years: year

Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From Middle English laste, latst, syncopated variant of latest.

Adjective

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last (not comparable)

  1. Final, ultimate, coming after all others of its kind.
    Eyes Wide Shut was the last film to be directed by Stanley Kubrick.
    • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
      Then everybody once more knelt, and soon the blessing was pronounced. The choir and the clergy trooped out slowly, […] , down the nave to the western door. […] At a seemingly immense distance the surpliced group stopped to say the last prayer.
  2. Most recent, latest, last so far.
    The last time I saw him, he was married.
    I have received your note dated the 17th last, and am responding to say that […] (archaic usage)
    • 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:
      She told him the last news about little Georgy, and how he was gone to spend that very day with his sisters in the country.
    • 2013 May 25, “No Hiding Place”, in The Economist‎[1], volume 407, number 8837, page 74:
      In America alone, people spent $170 billion on “direct marketing”—junk mail of both the physical and electronic varieties—last year.
  3. Farthest of all from a given quality, character, or condition; most unlikely, or least preferable.
    He is the last person to be accused of theft.
    The last person I want to meet is Helen.
    More rain is the last thing we need right now.
  4. Being the only one remaining of its class.
    Japan is the last empire.
  5. Supreme; highest in degree; utmost.
    • 1802, Robert Hall, Reflections on War:
      Contending for principles of the last importance.
  6. Lowest in rank or degree.
    Three contestants will win awards, but the last prize is just a book voucher.
    • 1797 May 8 (first performance), Richard Cumberland, “The Last of the Family. A Comedy.”, in Frances Marianne [Cumberland] Jansen, editor, The Posthumous Dramatick Works of the Late Richard Cumberland, Esq. […], volume II, London: […] [F]or G[eorge] and W[illiam] Nicol, […]; by W[illiam] Bulmer and Co., […], published 1813, →OCLC, Act III, scene [iii], page 237:
      In one word then, unless I could unfold the mystery, I will not wish you to consider me but as the last and lowest of mankind.
    • 1899, Richard Savage, The White Lady of Khaminavatka: A Story of the Ukraine, page 186:
      The whole community from the patrician master to the last beggar knew that in the five months when the generous bosom of the steppe throbbed with creative life, they must toil for the subsistence of all […]
    • 1970, Julius Fast, Body Language, →ISBN, page 39:
      Lesser, but still important executives had offices without corner windows. The rank below this had offices without windows at all. […] The last rank had desks out in an open room.
    • 2003 March 31, Marko Peljhan, “Lecture: March 31, 2003”, in Jen Budney, Adrian Blackwell, editors, Unboxed Engagements in Social Space, published 2005, →ISBN, page 110:
      Russia is a very different place than here. […] Even the last soldier knows who Malevich was, and what the Black Square is, since they were taught this in school.
Synonyms
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Derived terms
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Translations
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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Determiner

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last

  1. The (one) immediately before the present.
    We went there last year.
    I was last to go; you're next.
  2. (of days of the week or months of the year) Closest in the past, or closest but one if the closest was very recent; of days, sometimes thought to specifically refer to the instance closest to seven days (one week) ago, or the most recent instance before seven days (one week) ago.
    It's Wednesday, and the party was last Tuesday; that is, not yesterday, but eight days ago.
    When you say last Monday, do you mean the Monday just gone, or the one before that?
Usage notes
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  • (both senses): This cannot be used in past or future tense to refer to a time immediately before the subject matter. For example, one does not say I was very tired yesterday, due to not having slept well last night: last night in that sentence refers to the night before the speaker is speaking, not the night before the "yesterday" to which he refers. He would need to say I was very tired yesterday, due to not having slept well the night before or the like.
Translations
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Adverb

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last (not comparable)

  1. Most recently.
    When we last met, he was based in Toronto.
  2. (sequence) after everything else; finally
    I'll go last as I have to add the butter last.
    last but not least
Synonyms
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Translations
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Etymology 2

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From Middle English lasten, from Old English lǣstan, from Proto-West Germanic *laistijan, from Proto-Germanic *laistijaną. Cognate with German leisten (“yield”).

Verb

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last (third-person singular simple present lasts, present participle lasting, simple past and past participle lasted)

  1. (intransitive) To endure, continue over time.
    Summer seems to last longer each year.
    They seem happy now, but that won't last long.
    • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto XLII, page 65:
      And love will last as pure and whole
      ⁠As when he loved me here in Time,
      ⁠And at the spiritual prime
      Rewaken with the dawning soul.
    • 1913, Mrs. [Marie] Belloc Lowndes, chapter I, in The Lodger, London: Methuen, →OCLC; republished in Novels of Mystery: The Lodger; The Story of Ivy; What Really Happened, New York, N.Y.: Longmans, Green and Co., […], [1933], →OCLC, page 0016:
      Thus the red damask curtains which now shut out the fog-laden, drizzling atmosphere of the Marylebone Road, had cost a mere song, and yet they might have been warranted to last another thirty years. A great bargain also had been the excellent Axminster carpet which covered the floor; […].
    • 2023 November 15, Prof. Jim Wild, “This train was delayed because of bad weather in space”, in RAIL, number 996, page 30:
      One of the earliest (and biggest) space weather events on record occurred in September 1859, when a massive solar eruption crashed into the Earth's magnetosphere, triggering a geomagnetic storm that lasted for days.
  2. (intransitive) To hold out, continue undefeated or entire.
    I don't know how much longer we can last without reinforcements.
  3. (intransitive, slang, of a man) To purposefully refrain from orgasm
  4. (transitive, obsolete) To perform, carry out.
Synonyms
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The terms below need to be checked and allocated to the definitions (senses) of the headword above. Each term should appear in the sense for which it is appropriate. For synonyms and antonyms you may use the templates {{syn|en|...}} or {{ant|en|...}}.
Antonyms
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Translations
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Etymology 3

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Various lasts, circa 1930.

From Old English lǣste, Proto-Germanic *laistiz. Compare Swedish läst, German Leisten Dutch leest, Proto-Germanic *laistaz (“footprint”).

Noun

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last (plural lasts)

  1. A tool for shaping or preserving the shape of shoes.
    • 2006, Newman, Cathy, Every Shoe Tells a Story, National Geographic (September, 2006), 83,
      How is an in-your-face black leather thigh-high lace-up boot with a four-inch spike heel like a man's black calf lace-up oxford? They are both made on a last, the wood or plastic foot-shaped form that leather is stretched over and shaped to make a shoe.
Derived terms
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Translations
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Verb

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last (third-person singular simple present lasts, present participle lasting, simple past and past participle lasted)

  1. To shape with a last; to fasten or fit to a last; to place smoothly on a last.
    to last a boot

Etymology 4

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From Middle English last, from Old English hlæst (“burden, load, freight”), from Proto-Germanic *hlastuz (“burden, load, freight”), from Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂- (“to put, lay out”). Cognate with West Frisian lêst, Dutch last, German Last, Swedish last, Icelandic lest.

Noun

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last (plural lasts or lasten)

  1. (obsolete) A burden; load; a cargo; freight.
  2. (obsolete) A measure of weight or quantity, varying in designation depending on the goods concerned.
    • 1624, John Smith, Generall Historie, Kupperman, published 1988, page 114:
      Now we so quietly followed our businesse, that in three moneths wee made three or foure Last of Tarre, Pitch, and Sope ashes [...].
    • 1866, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, volume 1, page 169:
      The last of wool is twelve sacks.
  3. (obsolete) An old English (and Dutch) measure of the carrying capacity of a ship, equal to two tons.
  4. A load of some commodity with reference to its weight and commercial value.
Derived terms
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Translations
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Further reading

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Anagrams

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Chinese

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Etymology

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From English last.

Pronunciation 1

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Adjective

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last

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) last (final; ultimate)

Pronunciation 2

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Verb

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last

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) to last (to endure)

Danish

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From Middle Low German last, from the verb laden (“to transport”), from Old Saxon hladan.

Noun

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last c (singular definite lasten, plural indefinite laster)

  1. cargo
  2. cargo hold, hold (cargo area)
  3. weight, burden
Inflection
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Declension of last
common
gender 		singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative last lasten laster lasterne
genitive lasts lastens lasters lasternes
Synonyms
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Etymology 2

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From Old Norse lǫstr, from the root of Proto-Germanic *lahaną (“to reproach, blame”), see also Old High German lastar (“vice”).

Noun

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last c (singular definite lasten, plural indefinite laster)

  1. vice
Inflection
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Declension of last
common
gender 		singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative last lasten laster lasterne
genitive lasts lastens lasters lasternes

Etymology 3

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See laste (“to load, carry”) and laste (“to blame”).

Verb

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last

  1. imperative of laste

Further reading

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Dutch

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From Middle Dutch last, from Old Dutch *last, from Proto-Germanic *hlastuz. Equivalent to laden (“to load”) +‎ -st (“verbal noun”).

Noun

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last m (plural lasten, diminutive lastje n)

  1. load, weight
  2. burden
  3. hindrance, problem
  4. expense
  5. (law) requirement, duty
  6. (dated) a measure of volume, 3 cubic meter
Derived terms
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Descendants
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  • Negerhollands: last

Etymology 2

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See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

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last

  1. inflection of lassen:
    1. second/third-person singular present indicative
    2. (archaic) plural imperative

Anagrams

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Estonian

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Noun

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last (genitive lasti, partitive lasti)

  1. cargo

Declension

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Declension of last (ÕS type 22e/riik, length gradation)
singular plural
nominative last lastid
accusative nom.
gen. lasti
genitive lastide
partitive lasti laste
lastisid
illative lasti
lastisse 		lastidesse
lastesse
inessive lastis lastides
lastes
elative lastist lastidest
lastest
allative lastile lastidele
lastele
adessive lastil lastidel
lastel
ablative lastilt lastidelt
lastelt
translative lastiks lastideks
lasteks
terminative lastini lastideni
essive lastina lastidena
abessive lastita lastideta
comitative lastiga lastidega

Noun

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last

  1. partitive singular of laps

Faroese

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From Old Norse lǫstr, from the root of Proto-Germanic *lahaną (“to reproach, blame”), see also Old High German lastar (“vice”).

Noun

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last f (genitive singular lastar, plural lastir)

  1. vice
Inflection
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f2 singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative last lastin lastir lastirnar
accusative last lastina lastir lastirnar
dative last lastini lastum lastunum
genitive lastar lastarinnar lasta lastanna

Etymology 2

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From Middle Low German last, from the verb lāden (“to load”), from Old Saxon hladan.

Noun

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last f (genitive singular lastar, plural lastir)

  1. cargo
  2. cargo hold, hold (cargo area)
Inflection
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f2 singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative last lastin lastir lastirnar
accusative last lastina lastir lastirnar
dative last lastini lastum lastunum
genitive lastar lastarinnar lasta lastanna

German

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Etymology 1

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See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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last

  1. second-person singular preterite of lesen
    Synonym: lasest
  2. second-person plural preterite of lesen

Etymology 2

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See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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last

  1. Alternative form of laste
    1. imperative singular of lasten
    2. (colloquial) first-person singular present of lasten

Icelandic

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Etymology

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See löstur (“fault, vice, reprehensible action”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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last n (genitive singular lasts, no plural)

  1. blame
    Synonym: baktal

Declension

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Declension of last (sg-only neuter)
singular
indefinite definite
nominative last lastið
accusative last lastið
dative lasti lastinu
genitive lasts lastsins

Derived terms

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Middle Dutch

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Etymology

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From Old Dutch *last, from Proto-Germanic *hlastuz.

Noun

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last m or f or n

  1. load, weight
  2. task, duty, obligation
  3. tax (money)
  4. (emotional) difficulty, sorrow
  5. a unit of volume

Inflection

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This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

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Further reading

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Norwegian Bokmål

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Etymology 1

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From Middle Low German last.

Noun

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last f or m (definite singular lasta or lasten, indefinite plural laster, definite plural lastene)

  1. a load or cargo
Derived terms
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Etymology 2

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See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

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last

  1. imperative of laste

References

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Norwegian Nynorsk

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Etymology

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From Middle Low German last.

Noun

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last f or m (definite singular lasta or lasten, indefinite plural laster or lastar, definite plural lastene or lastane)

  1. a load or cargo

Derived terms

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References

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Old English

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Etymology

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From Proto-West Germanic *laist, along with the feminine variant lǣst.

Cognates

Cognate with Middle Dutch leest (Dutch leest), Old High German leist (German Leist), Old Norse leistr (“foot, sock”) (Swedish läst, Danish læst).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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lāst m (nominative plural lāstas)

  1. footstep, track
    • 10th century, The Wanderer:
      Stondeð nū on lāste · lēofre duguþe
      weal wundrum hēah, · wyrmlīcum fāh.
      Now a wall stands in the track of dear band,
      by wonders high, with ophidians adorned.

Declension

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Strong a-stem:

singular plural
nominative lāst lāstas
accusative lāst lāstas
genitive lāstes lāsta
dative lāste lāstum

Derived terms

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Slovene

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Etymology

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From Proto-Slavic *volstь, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *walˀstís, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁-.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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lȃst f

  1. property

Declension

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 The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.
Feminine, i-stem, long mixed accent
nominative lást
genitive lastí
singular
nominative
(imenovȃlnik) 		lást
genitive
(rodȋlnik) 		lastí
dative
(dajȃlnik) 		lásti
accusative
(tožȋlnik) 		lást
locative
(mẹ̑stnik) 		lásti
instrumental
(orọ̑dnik) 		lastjó

Further reading

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  • “last”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran
  • “last”, in Termania, Amebis
  • See also the general references

Swedish

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From Middle Low German last, from the verb lāden (“to load”), from Old Saxon hladan.

Noun

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last c

  1. cargo
  2. load; a burden
  3. load; a certain amount that can be processed at one time
  4. (engineering) load; a force on a structure
  5. (electrical engineering) load; any component that draws current or power
Declension
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Declension of last
nominative genitive
singular indefinite last lasts
definite lasten lastens
plural indefinite laster lasters
definite lasterna lasternas
Derived terms
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See also
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Etymology 2

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From Old Swedish laster (Old Icelandic lǫstr), from Old Norse löstr, from the root of Proto-Germanic *lahaną (“to reproach, blame”), see also Old High German lastar (“vice”).

Noun

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last c

  1. habit which is difficult to get rid of, vice
    Rökning var hans enda last
    Smoking was his only vice
Declension
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Declension of last
nominative genitive
singular indefinite last lasts
definite lasten lastens
plural indefinite laster lasters
definite lasterna lasternas
Derived terms
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Anagrams

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