last

last¹ continue, endure

Etymology

The verb meaning to continue is inherited from Middle English lasten, earlier læsten,^[5] inherited from Old English lǣstan (“to follow; to carry out; to continue, endure”),^[1][5][2] from Proto-Germanic *laistijaną (“to follow a track”).^[1] It is cognate with Old Frisian lāsta (“to fulfil”), Old Saxon lēstian (“to perform”), Old High German leisten, German leisten (“to perform, achieve”) and Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌹𐍃𐍄𐌾𐌰𐌽 (laistjan, “to follow”).^[5][1][3] It comes from the same Germanic base as Old English lāst (“track, footprint”), the source of last³,^[5][2][1] and Etymonline traces it to Proto-Indo-European *lois- (“furrow, track”).^[1] It is not related to last².^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

To accomplish, carry out: about 725, in Beowulf, according to Barnhart.^[5] The OED's first record is early Old English, in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, in the sense "to follow a leader, serve".^[3]

Semantic evolution

The Old English senses "to follow" and "to carry out, fulfil" died out by 1200 and 1450.^[3] The sense of time, "to continue, go on", is also Old English (Barnhart finds it about 750, in Cynewulf's Christ),^[5][3] and it became the only one: of things "to endure" in late Old English, of people "to stay alive" from about 1225, of supplies "to be enough" from about 1175, and "to stay in good condition" from about 1300.^[3][1] The sense "to withstand, hold out under" followed in 1340,^[3] and "to manage to keep going", as of a boxer or a new employee, in 1848.^[3] The Middle English forms læsten and lasten are recorded in 1122 and 1137,^[5] and the adjective lasting before 1333.^[5] A noun last, duration or staying power, was formed from the verb by about 1400.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 725 – Old English lǣstan, to accomplish, carry out.^[5]
• Old English – to follow a leader, to serve (obsolete by 1200).^[3]
• c. 750 – to continue, go on.^[5][3]
• 1122 – Middle English læsten, and lasten in 1137.^[5]
• c. 1175 – to be enough for someone.^[3]
• c. 1225 – of a person, to go on living.^[3]
• c. 1300 – to remain in good condition.^[3][1]
• 1340 – to withstand, hold out under.^[3]
• 1622 – noun, staying power.^[3]
• 1848 – to manage to continue in a position or task.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To go on for a period of time: The meeting lasted two hours.^[6][2][3]
2. To remain in good or usable condition: These boots will last for years.^[6][3]
3. To be enough for someone's needs: The water should last us until Friday.^[6][3]
4. To survive or keep going, often with out: He didn't last a week in the job.^[6][3]

Noun

1. Staying power, endurance.^[3][2]

Word family

• lasting
• everlasting
• outlast

last² final, latest

Etymology

The adjective and adverb meaning final is inherited from Middle English last, also laste, latste and leaste,^[5] contracted inherited from Old English latost (“slowest, latest”) and the adverb lætest,^[1][5][2] superlatives of læt (“slow, late”), the source of late.^[1][5][7] The OED explains the loss of the vowel of the suffix as starting in the inflected forms.^[3] Barnhart traces the forms to Proto-Germanic *latast- and *latist-,^[5] cognate with Old Frisian lest, Dutch laatst, Old High German lazzōst, German letzt and Old Norse latastr (“slowest”).^[1][5][2] The modern latest is a newer superlative of Middle English late, formed before 1200.^[5] Etymonline notes that it is not related to last¹.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

After all others, finally: as an adverb in Old English, first in a medical recipe;^[3] Barnhart dates latost and lætest to before 899, in Alfred's translation of Boethius.^[5] The adjective "following all others" is first recorded about 1175, in the Ormulum.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The adverb meant "most recently" from about 1200, and the adjective "most recent, just before the present", as in last night, from the late 14th century.^[1][3] Etymonline remarks that latest would be more logical, but idiom kept last.^[1] Also from the late 14th century it meant "furthest, most remote", and in the last days it referred to the end of the world.^[1][3] The sense "least likely or suitable", as in the last person to ask, is dated to the mid-15th century by Etymonline and to 1670 by the OED.^[1][3] The noun, the last one, appears before 1200 in Layamon, and the phrase at last about 1200.^[5][1] Later phrases include the last word (1563 in Barnhart, the 1650s in Etymonline), the last straw (1848, in Dickens), last-minute (1905) and last-ditch (1951).^[5][1]

Timeline

• before 899 – Old English latost and lætest.^[5]
• c. 1175 – adjective, following all others; of the end of life.^[3]
• before 1200 – noun, the last one.^[5]
• c. 1200 – adverb, most recently, and the phrase at last.^[1] The OED first records the adverbial sense about 1225.^[3]
• c. 1375 – lastly.^[5]
• late 14th century – most recent, as in last night; furthest.^[1]
• 1398 – last past, immediately preceding.^[3]
• 1670 – least likely or willing.^[3]
• 1848 – the last straw.^[5]
• 1905 – last-minute.^[1]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Coming after all others; final: the last train home.^[6][8][3]
2. Most recent; just past: last Tuesday.^[6][8][3]
3. Being the only one left: her last chance.^[6][8]
4. Least likely or suitable: the last thing I expected.^[6][8][3]
5. Of the end of life or of the world: the last rites.^[6][3]

Adverb

1. After all others: He arrived last.^[6][3]
2. Most recently: when we last met.^[6][3]
3. At the end; lastly.^[6][3]

Noun

1. The one that comes at the end: She was the last to leave.^[6][8]
2. The end, as in at last and to the last.^[6][1]

Word family

• lastly
• last-ditch
• last word
• last straw
• at last
• last-minute

last³ shoemaker's form

Etymology

The shoemaker's form is inherited from Middle English leste, later laste,^[5][7] inherited from Old English lǣste, from lāst (“track, footprint, trace”),^[5][1][2][3] from Proto-Germanic *laistiz.^[1] It is cognate with Middle Dutch leest (“form, model, last”), Old High German leist (“shoemaker's last; track”), German Leisten, Old Norse leistr (“foot; sock”) and Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍃 (laists, “footprint”).^[5][1][3] Barnhart and Merriam-Webster compare Latin līra (“furrow”), from Proto-Indo-European *leis-,^[5][2] and Etymonline relates it to lǣran (“to teach”), the source of learn.^[1][2] The verb last¹ comes from the same base.^[5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

A model of the foot on which shoes are made: Old English, in the Antwerp–London Glossary;^[3] Barnhart dates lǣste to about 1000, in Ælfric's Glossary, and its source lāst, footprint, to about 725, in Beowulf.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The older sense, a footprint or track, is recorded only in Old English, and in Scots last was used in negative phrases for "anything at all" until about 1500.^[3] The shoemaker's sense took on figurative uses from 1573,^[3] and the proverb let the cobbler stick to his last, after Latin ne sutor ultra crepidam, is quoted from Shakespeare (1597).^[3] The verb, to shape on a last, is recorded from 1603 in the OED and Merriam-Webster, but only from 1880 in Barnhart.^[3][2][5]

Timeline

• c. 1000 – Old English lǣste, a shoemaker's last.^[5][3]
• before 1300 – Middle English leste, and laste in 1395.^[5]
• 1573 – figurative uses.^[3]
• 1597 – the proverb let the cobbler stick to his last.^[3]
• 1603 – verb, to shape on a last.^[3][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A block shaped like a human foot, on which shoes are made or repaired.^[6][3]

Verb

1. To shape a shoe on a last.^[6][3]

last⁴ unit of weight

Etymology

The unit of weight is inherited from Middle English last,^[2][7] inherited from Old English hlæst (“load, burden”),^[1][2][7] formed from the base of hladan (“to load”), the source of lade.^[1][2][3] It is cognate with Old Frisian hlest, Dutch last, Old High German hlast and German Last (“load”).^[1][3][2] Its Anglo-Norman borrowing, lest, influenced the Middle English form.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

A load, especially a ship's cargo: Old English, in Riddle 1.^[3] Etymonline dates the Middle English word to about 1300.^[1]

Semantic evolution

The general sense "load, cargo" died out after 1475, and the word lived on as a commercial measure: for herrings, beer, grain and pitch from 1341, for wool and for hides from about 1436.^[3] Merriam-Webster dates the measure to the 15th century.^[2] The value varied with the commodity and the place; the American Heritage Dictionary puts it at about 80 bushels, 640 gallons or 2 tons.^[6][3] From 1566 it also measured a ship's carrying capacity, and in Shetland and Orkney a unit of land.^[3] Chaucer used it for a large indefinite number.^[3]

Timeline

• Old English – a load, a ship's cargo.^[3]
• c. 1300 – Middle English, a burden, a cargo.^[1]
• 1341 – a measure for fish, beer, grain and other goods.^[3]
• c. 1405 – a large indefinite number (obsolete).^[3]
• c. 1436 – a measure for wool and for hides.^[3]
• 1566 – a unit of a ship's carrying capacity.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A unit of weight or volume that varied by commodity and district, for example for grain or herrings.^[6][3]
2. A unit of a ship's carrying capacity, usually about two tons.^[3]