læstan

Forms

lǣstan (weak class 1; third-person singular present lǣsteþ, past singular lǣste, past plural lǣston)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *laistijan, from Proto-Germanic *laistijaną (“to follow”).^[1][2] The verb was made from the Germanic noun Proto-Germanic *laistiz (“track, trace”),^[3] and Wiktionary glosses the Proto-Germanic verb "to track, follow".^[1] The same verb is Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌹𐍃𐍄𐌾𐌰𐌽 (laistjan, “to follow”), Old Frisian lāsta, Old Saxon lēstian and Old High German leisten.^[3][4] The noun survives in Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍃 (laists, “track”), Old Norse leistr "foot, sock" and Old English lǣst "footprint, sole".^[5][3] Köbler compares the root, with a question mark, with Proto-Indo-European *leis- (“track, furrow”).^[4]

Ringe and Taylor trace the Old English form through a stage *lāstjąn: Proto-Germanic /ai/ became /ā/, which i-umlaut then fronted to the ⟨ǣ⟩ of lǣstan.^[2] The compound fullǣstan "to help" was worn down early to West Saxon fylstan, which drifted away from the full form in sense.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb is first recorded around 900 in the Parker Chronicle, whose first hand is of the turn of the ninth and tenth centuries.^[7][8] In the annal for 874 a man pledges to be ready mid him selfum, & on allum þam þe him læstan woldon, to þæs heres þearfe “with himself and with all who would follow him, for the army's need”.^[8][9]

Semantic evolution

Bosworth and Toller set out two main senses: to follow, attend or do service to a lord, and to carry out, observe or discharge a command, a teaching or a debt.^[9] In Beowulf the word is used of Grendel's body, which would no longer serve him in Beowulf's grip.^[10][9] In the Old English Bede it renders Latin “prosequi”, “sequi” and “servare”.^[9] The senses "to endure, last" and "to furnish, pay" are also recorded.^[11]

The word lived on as Middle English lasten, in which the sense "to go on existing, continue" became the main one; it is English last as a verb.^[12][1]

Timeline

• s. ix/x – on allum þam þe him læstan woldon “with all who would follow him” in the Parker Chronicle (annal 874).^[7][8]
• s. x in. or xi¹ – fylgden & læsten “should follow and carry out” in the Old English Bede, rendering Latin “sequerentur”.^[13][8][9]
• s. x² – læston larcwide “carried out the teaching” in Andreas (Vercelli Book).^[14][8][15]
• s. x/xi – him se lichoma læstan nolde “his body would not serve him”, of Grendel, in the Beowulf manuscript.^[16][10]

Meanings

Verb

1. to follow, attend or accompany a lord; to do service, avail.^[9][10]
2. to perform, carry out or observe a command or teaching; to discharge a debt or duty.^[9][4]
3. to endure, last, continue.^[11][4]
4. to furnish, pay.^[11][4]

Word family

• ġelǣstan
• fullǣstan
• fylstan

Descendants

• Middle English lasten (→ English last; Scots lest)^[1]

Related words

• lǣst

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 234
3. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 233
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. lǣstan
5. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 324
6. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 275
7. ^ a b Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 83
8. ^ a b c d e Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
9. ^ a b c d e f g Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 612
10. ^ a b c Fulk, R. D.; Bjork, Robert E.; Niles, John D., eds. (2008), Klaeber's Beowulf and The Fight at Finnsburg, 4th ed., Toronto: University of Toronto Press (glossary), p. s.v. lǣstan
11. ^ a b c Nerthus: An Online Lexical Database of Old English, Universidad de La Rioja, nerthusproject.com (derivational paradigms, via the Nerthus Project's open data), p. s.v. lǣstan
12. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
13. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 531
14. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 704
15. ^ North, Richard; Bintley, Michael D. J., eds. (2016), Andreas: An Edition, Liverpool: Liverpool University Press (glossary), p. s.v. lǣstan
16. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 344