Wiktionary

let

See also: Appendix:Variations of "let"

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Alternative forms

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  • lett (archaic)
  • lettest (2nd person singular simple present and simple past; archaic)
  • letteth (3rd person singular simple present; archaic)

Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Derived from Middle English leten, læten, from Old English lǣtan (“to allow, let go, bequeath, leave, rent”), from Proto-West Germanic *lātan, from Proto-Germanic *lētaną (“to leave behind, allow”), from Proto-Indo-European *leh₁d- (“to let, leave behind”).

Cognates
Cognate with Scots lat, lete (“to let, leave”), North Frisian lete (“to let”), West Frisian litte (“to let”), Dutch laten (“to let, leave”), German lassen (“to let, leave, allow”), Swedish låta (“to let, allow, leave”), Icelandic láta (“to let”), Albanian lë (“to allow, let, leave”) and partially related to French laisser (“to let”).

Verb

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let (third-person singular simple present lets, present participle letting, simple past let or (obsolete) leet, past participle let or (obsolete) letten)

  1. (transitive) To allow to, not to prevent (+ infinitive, but usually without to).
    After he knocked for hours, I decided to let him come in.
  2. (transitive) To allow to be or do without interference; to not disturb or meddle with; to leave (someone or something) alone.
    Let me be!
  3. (transitive) To allow the release of (a fluid).
    The physicians let about a pint of his blood, but to no avail.
  4. (transitive) To allow possession of (a property etc.) in exchange for rent.
    I decided to let the farmhouse to a couple while I was working abroad.
    • 1965, Roger Miller (lyrics and music), “King Of The Road”:
      Trailers for sale or rent, rooms to let, fifty cents.
  5. (transitive) To give, grant, or assign, as a work, privilege, or contract; often with out.
    to let the building of a bridge;  to let out the lathing and the plastering
  6. (auxiliary, transitive) Used to introduce a first or third person imperative verb construction.
    Let's put on a show!
    Let us have a moment of silence.
    Let me just give you the phone number.
    Let P be the point where AB and OX intersect.
  7. (transitive, obsolete except with know) To cause (+ bare infinitive).
    Can you let me know what time you'll be arriving?
    • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter IV, in Le Morte Darthur, book IV:
      Soo within a whyle kynge Pellinore cam with a grete hoost / and salewed the peple and the kyng / and ther was grete ioye made on euery syde / Thenne the kyng lete serche how moche people of his party ther was slayne / And ther were founde but lytel past two honderd men slayne and viij knyȝtes of the table round in their pauelions
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
    • 1818, John Keats, To—:
      Time's sea hath been five years at its slow ebb, / Long hours have to and fro let creep the sand […].
Usage notes
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  • The use of “let” to introduce an imperative may sometimes be confused with its use, as its own imperative, in the sense of “to allow”. For example, the sentence “Let me go to the store.” could either be a second-person imperative of “let” (addressing someone who might prevent the speaker from going to the store) or a first-person singular imperative of “go” (not implying any such preventer).
Synonyms
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Derived terms
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Translations
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Noun

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let (plural lets)

  1. The allowing of possession of a property etc. in exchange for rent.
    • 1854, Charles Dickens, Christmas Stories‎[1], page 317:
      Then he says “You would call it a Good Let, Madam?”
      “O certainly a Good Let sir.”

Etymology 2

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Derived from Middle English letten (“to hinder, delay”), from Old English lettan (“to hinder, delay”; literally, “to make late”), from Proto-West Germanic *lattjan, from Proto-Germanic *latjaną. Akin to Old English latian (“to delay”), Dutch letten, Old English læt (“late”). More at late, delay.

Verb

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let (third-person singular simple present lets, present participle letting, simple past letted, past participle let)

  1. (archaic) To hinder, prevent, impede, hamper, cumber; to obstruct (someone or something).
  2. (obsolete) To prevent someone from doing something; also to prevent something from happening.
    • 1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur Book XXI, Chapter ii, leaf 421r:
      & there was syr Mordred redy awaytynge vpon his londage to lette his owne fader to lāde vp the lande that he was kyng ouer.
      "And there was Sir Mordred ready awaiting upon his landing, to let his own father to land upon the land that he was king over."
    • 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Acts viij:
      And as they went on their waye, they cam unto a certayne water, and the gelded man sayde: Se here is water, what shall lett me to be baptised?
  3. (obsolete) To tarry or delay.
    • 1826, Early Metrical Tales; Including the History of Sir Egeir, Sir Gryme, and Sir Gray-Steill, Edinburgh, The History of Sir Eger, Sir Grahame, And Sir Gray-Steel, page 7:
      And for that strake I would not let, / Another upon him soon I set, […]

Noun

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let (plural lets)

  1. An obstacle or hindrance.
  2. (tennis) The hindrance caused by the net during serve, only if the ball falls legally.
Derived terms
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Translations
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References

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Anagrams

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Czech

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Czech Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia cs

Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Inherited from Proto-Slavic *letъ.

Noun

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let m inan

  1. flight (the act of flying)
Declension
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Declension of let (hard masculine inanimate)
singular plural
nominative let lety
genitive letu letů
dative letu letům
accusative let lety
vocative lete lety
locative letu letech
instrumental letem lety
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Etymology 2

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See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

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let n

  1. genitive plural of léto

Further reading

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  • “let”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935-1957
  • “let”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
  • “let”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech)

Danish

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Etymology 1

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Derived from Old Norse léttr, from Proto-Germanic *linhtaz, cognate with Swedish lätt, English light and German leicht.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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let (plural and definite singular attributive lette)

  1. light (not heavy)
  2. easy
  3. slight
  4. mild
Inflection
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Inflection of let
Positive Comparative Superlative
Indefinte common singular let lettere lettest2
Indefinite neuter singular let lettere lettest2
Plural lette lettere lettest2
Definite attributive1 lette lettere letteste
1) When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite, the corresponding "indefinite" form is used.
2) The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively.
Synonyms
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Adverb

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let

  1. lightly
  2. easily
  3. slightly
  4. mildly

References

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Etymology 2

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Abbreviation of letmælk.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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let c (singular definite letten, plural indefinite let)

  1. low-fat milk
Declension
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Declension of let
common
gender 		Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative let letten let lettene
genitive lets lettens lets lettenes

References

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Etymology 3

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See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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let

  1. imperative of lette

Etymology 4

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See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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let

  1. past participle of le

Dutch

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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let

  1. inflection of letten:
    1. first/second/third-person singular present indicative
    2. imperative

Anagrams

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French

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Etymology

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Borrowed from English let.

Pronunciation

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Interjection

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let

  1. (tennis) indicates a let on service

Further reading

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Friulian

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Etymology

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Inherited from Latin lēctus, perfect passive participle of legō.

Verb

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let

  1. past participle of lei (“read”)

Gothic

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Romanization

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lēt

  1. Romanization of 𐌻𐌴𐍄

Irish

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Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Contraction

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let (triggers lenition)

  1. (Munster) Contraction of le do (“with your sg”).
    let thoil ― please
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Irish preposition contractions
Basic form Contracted with Copular forms
an (“the sg”) na (“the pl”) mo (“my”) do (“your”) a (“his, her, their; which (present)”) ár (“our”) ar (“which (past)”) (before consonant) (present/future before vowel) (past/conditional before vowel)
de (“from”) den de na
desna*		 de mo
dem*		 de do
ded*, det*		 dá dár dar darb darbh
do (“to, for”) don do na
dosna*		 do mo
dom*		 do do
dod*, dot*		 dá dár dar darb darbh
faoi (“under, about”) faoin faoi na faoi mo faoi do faoina faoinár faoinar faoinarb faoinarbh
i (“in”) sa, san sna i mo
im*		 i do
id*, it*		 ina inár inar inarb inarbh
le (“with”) leis an leis na le mo
lem*		 le do
led*, let*		 lena lenár lenar lenarb lenarbh
ó (“from, since”) ón ó na
ósna*		 ó mo
óm*		 ó do
ód*, ót*		 óna ónár ónar ónarb ónarbh
trí (“through”) tríd an trí na trí mo trí do trína trínár trínar trínarb trínarbh
*Dialectal.

North Frisian

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Etymology

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Inherited from Old Frisian lēta, from Proto-West Germanic *lātan.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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let (present let, 2nd singular letst, 3rd singular let, past let, perfect leten)

  1. (Sylt) to let

Norwegian Bokmål

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Etymology 1

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Derived from Old Norse litr (“colour”), related to líta (“to see”).

Noun

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let m (definite singular leten, indefinite plural leter, definite plural letene)

  1. color / colour
Synonyms
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Derived terms
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Etymology 2

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Verb

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let

  1. imperative of lete

References

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Norwegian Nynorsk

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Etymology 1

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Inherited from Old Norse litr (“colour”), from Proto-Germanic *wlitiz, *wlituz. Related to Old Norse líta (“to see”).

Alternative forms

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Noun

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let m (definite singular leten, indefinite plural leter or letar, definite plural letene or letane)

  1. color / colour
    Synonym: farge
Derived terms
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Etymology 2

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Verb

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let

  1. present tense of la
  2. present of lata
  3. past tense of la
  4. past of lata

Etymology 3

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Verb

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let

  1. imperative of leta

Further reading

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Anagrams

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Old English

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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lēt

  1. first/third-person singular preterite indicative of lǣtan

Serbo-Croatian

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Etymology

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Inherited from Proto-Slavic *letъ.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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lȇt m (Cyrillic spelling ле̑т)

  1. flight

Declension

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Declension of let
singular plural
nominative lȇt létovi
genitive leta lètōvā
dative letu letovima
accusative let letove
vocative lete letovi
locative letu letovima
instrumental letom letovima

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References

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  • “let” in Hrvatski jezični portal

Slovene

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Etymology

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Inherited from Proto-Slavic *letъ.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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lȅt m inan

  1. flight

Inflection

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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.
Masculine inan., hard o-stem
nom. sing. lèt
gen. sing. léta
singular dual plural
nominative
(imenovȃlnik) 		lèt léta léti
genitive
(rodȋlnik) 		léta létov létov
dative
(dajȃlnik) 		létu létoma létom
accusative
(tožȋlnik) 		lèt léta léte
locative
(mẹ̑stnik) 		létu létih létih
instrumental
(orọ̑dnik) 		létom létoma léti

Tok Pisin

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Etymology

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Derived from English leather.

Noun

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let

  1. leather
  2. strap (of leather)
  3. belt
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