lætan

Forms

lǣtan (strong class 7; third-person singular present lǣtt, past singular lēt, past plural lēton)^[1] Mercian and Kentish lētan, Northumbrian lēta.^[2] Anglian past leort, plural leorton.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *lātan, from Proto-Germanic *lētaną (“to let go, allow”).^[1][4] Its cognates are Gothic 𐌻𐌴𐍄𐌰𐌽 (letan), Old Norse láta, Old Frisian lēta, Old Saxon lātan and Old High German lāzan.^[5][6][4]

Kroonen reconstructs a European root *leh₁d-, with Ancient Greek ληδεῖν (lēdeîn, “to be tired”), Albanian lodh (“to tire”) and Latin lassus (“tired, weary”);^[5][6] Orel compares the same Greek, Albanian and Latin words.^[5][6] Köbler gives the root as Proto-Indo-European *lēd- “to let, slacken”.^[7]

Proto-Germanic /ē/ became /ā/ in North-West Germanic, and this appears as ⟨ǣ⟩ in West Saxon, as ⟨ē⟩ in the other dialects.^[8][2] The verb belongs to strong class VII, with the principal parts ⟨lǣtan, lēt, lēton, lǣten⟩.^[9] Seebold takes the Anglian past ⟨leort⟩ as a remnant of the old reduplication.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb is first recorded in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20, 890×897): Se ealdormonn sceal lætan hine selfne gelicne his hieremonnum “the ruler must regard himself as equal to his subjects”.^[10][11]

Semantic evolution

Bosworth and Toller explain many of the senses by an infinitive left out after lǣtan.^[12] Their order runs from letting and allowing to leaving, letting go and giving up (also letting blood), causing or having something done, making something appear so, considering or supposing, behaving towards someone, and letting land.^[12] In the glosses it renders Latin “sinere”, “permittere”, “relinquere” and “existimare”.^[7] In Beowulf it means to let or allow, with an accusative and infinitive.^[13]

It became Middle English leten, now English let.^[14][15]

Timeline

• 890×897 – lætan hine selfne gelicne “regard himself as equal” in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).^[10][11]
• s. x in. or xi¹ – hiere niowan blod læten wære in earme “she had lately been let blood in the arm” in the Old English Bede (Tanner 10).^[16][11]
• s. x/xi – to let, allow in the Beowulf manuscript.^[17][13]

Meanings

Verb

1. to let, allow, permit.^[12][13]
2. to leave, let alone, let go; to give up, forsake; to let blood.^[12][18]
3. to cause, make; to have something done.^[12]
4. to make out, pretend; to consider, suppose.^[12]
5. to behave towards, treat.^[12]
6. to let land, lease.^[12]

Word family

• ālǣtan
• forlǣtan
• tōlǣtan
• onlǣtan
• oflǣtan

Descendants

• Middle English leten (→ English let; Scots lat; Scots let)^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d 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. 239
3. ^ a b Seebold, Elmar (1970), Vergleichendes und etymologisches Wörterbuch der germanischen starken Verben, The Hague / Paris: Mouton, p. 333–334
4. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 11
5. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 332
6. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 244
7. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. lǣtan
8. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 149
9. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 348
10. ^ 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. 499
11. ^ a b c Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
12. ^ a b c d e f g h Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 613
13. ^ 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. lǣtan
14. ^ 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)
15. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
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. 531
17. ^ 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
18. ^ Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 602