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leftover

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Etymology and origin of the English word leftover

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
1864 Derby Mercury
Ultimate origins
Old English leftEnglish over
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English left
English leftover
From the same root
English leftist ← left

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈleftˌəʊvə(r)/[1]
  • US: /ˈleftˌoʊvɚ/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English left + over, the past participle of leave and the adverb, after the phrasal verb leave over, to leave remaining.[2][3][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Remaining, not used up or disposed of: 1864, in the Derby Mercury.[2] Etymonline dates the adjective to 1890,[6] Dictionary.com to 1890–95 and Merriam-Webster to 1897;[5][4] the OED, revised in 2016, has the earliest record.[2]

Semantic evolution

The noun, a thing left over and especially food remaining from a meal, usually in the plural, followed in 1866,[2] while Etymonline gives 1878 for leftovers as food from a meal and 1891 for the noun in general.[6] Etymonline notes that Old English had a word for the remains of a meal, metelāf,[6] and the OED compares the earlier noun leaving.[2] From 1896 the noun also meant a person or thing surviving from an earlier time, a relic.[2][3]

Timeline

  • 1864 – adjective, remaining, not used up.[2]
  • 1866 – noun, a remnant, especially of food from a meal.[2]
  • 1878 – leftovers, food left after a meal, in Etymonline.[6]
  • 1896 – a person or thing surviving from an earlier time.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Food remaining after a meal, especially when kept to be eaten later; usually in the plural: We had last night's leftovers for lunch.[4][2][6]
  2. Something remaining unused; a remnant or surplus.[4][5][2]
  3. A person or thing surviving from an earlier time; a relic.[2][3]

Adjective

  1. Remaining after the rest has been used or consumed: leftover paint.[4][2][3]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Leftover.” Etymologically, 31 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/leftover. Accessed 31 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·