Wiktionary

left

See also: lëft

EnglishEdit

 
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Etymology 1Edit

From Middle English left, luft, leoft, lift, lyft, from Old English left, lyft (“weak, clumsy, foolish”), attested in Old English lyftādl (“palsy, paralysis”), from Proto-Germanic *luft-, from *lubjaną (“to castrate, lop off”) (compare dialectal English lib, West Frisian lobje, Dutch lubben), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)lewp-, *(s)lup- (“hanging limply”). Compare Scots left (“left”), North Frisian lefts, leeft, leefts (“left”), West Frisian lofts (“left”), dialectal Dutch loof (“weak, worthless”), Low German lucht (“left”).

Alternative formsEdit

  • (political left): Left

PronunciationEdit

AdjectiveEdit

left (comparative more left or lefter, superlative most left or leftmost)

  1. Designating the side of the body toward the west when one is facing north; the side of the body on which the heart is located in most humans; the opposite of right. This arrow points to the reader's left: ←
    Synonyms: sinister, sinistral
    Antonyms: right, dexter, dextral
    The left side.
  2. (geography) Designating the bank of a river (etc.) on one's left when facing downstream (i.e. facing forward while floating with the current); that is, the north bank of a river that flows eastward. If this arrow: ⥲ shows the direction of the current, the tilde is on the left side of the river.
  3. (politics) Left-wing; pertaining to the political left.
    Antonym: right
 
The fruit to the viewer's left is smaller.
Derived termsEdit

left direction:

left-wing (politics):

Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
west side of the body when one is facing north

AdverbEdit

left (not comparable)

  1. On the left side.
    Antonym: right
  2. Towards the left side.
    Antonym: right
    Turn left at the corner. NO! Your other left.
  3. Towards the political left.
    Antonym: right
    The East Coast of the US leans left in elections.
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit

NounEdit

left (plural lefts)

  1. The left side or direction.
    Synonyms: 9 o'clock, port
  2. (politics) The left-wing political parties as a group; citizens holding left-wing views as a group.
    The Left left workers behind, thinking they had a winning demographic coalition. It hasn't really worked out for them yet.
  3. The left hand or fist.
  4. (boxing) A punch delivered with the left fist.
  5. (surfing) A wave breaking from left to right (viewed from the shore).
    Antonym: right
SynonymsEdit
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
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

Etymology 2Edit

From Middle English left, variant of laft (“remaining, left”), from Old English lǣfd, ġelǣfd, past participle of lǣfan (“to leave”). More at leave.

VerbEdit

left

  1. simple past tense and past participle of leave (“depart, separate from; (cause or allow to) remain”).
    • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 8, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:
      Afore we got to the shanty Colonel Applegate stuck his head out of the door. His temper had been getting raggeder all the time, and the sousing he got when he fell overboard had just about ripped what was left of it to ravellings.
    There's not much food left.
TranslationsEdit

Etymology 3Edit

From Middle English levit, ilevet, y-levyd, from Old English ġelȳfd, ġelȳfed, past participle of Old English ġelȳfan, lȳfan (“to allow, permit”), equivalent to leave (“to give leave to, allow, grant, permit”) +‎ -ed.

VerbEdit

left

  1. simple past tense and past participle of leave (“permit”).
    We were not left go to the beach after school except on a weekend.

ReferencesEdit

  • The Concise Dictionary of English Etymology, Walter W. Skeat.

AnagramsEdit

YolaEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Middle English left, from Old English lyft.

AdjectiveEdit

left

  1. left
    • 1927, “ZONG OF TWI MAARKEET MOANS”, in THE ANCIENT DIALECT OF THE BARONIES OF FORTH AND BARGY, COUNTY WEXFORD, line 11:
      In durk Ich red virst mee left-vooted shoe."
      In the dark I happened first on my left-footed shoe."

ReferencesEdit

  • Kathleen A. Browne (1927) The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland Sixth Series, Vol.17 No.2, Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, page 129
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