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loss

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /lɒs/, US /lɑːs/[1]

Etymology

Old English had los (“ruin, destruction”), from Proto-Germanic *lausa-, from Proto-Indo-European *leu- (“to loosen, divide, cut apart”).[2][3] But this scarcely survived into Middle English, and the modern word, Middle English los, is probably a back-formation from Middle English lost, the past participle of losen (“to lose”), modern lose.[2][4][5][6] Hoad says it does not continue the Old English word, which was used only in the phrase tō lose “to destruction”,[5] while Barnhart traces it to Old English los.[7] It is related to loose.[8][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old English los “loss, destruction” is first recorded before 899, in Alfred's translation of Boethius,[7] or about 897 in the OED.[9] Middle English los “death, destruction” is probably from before 1200, in Layamon,[7] and the weaker sense “a losing” from before 1338[7] or 1377.[9]

Semantic evolution

The modern word meant “failure to keep or hold what one had; failure to win”.[2] Being deprived of a friend or relative by death is from before 1450,[9] and losing a battle or game from the 14th century.[9] An instance of losing, or the person, thing or amount lost, is from about 1369.[9] At a loss, “uncertain, puzzled”, is from the 1590s, a phrase from hunting, of hounds that have lost the scent.[2] To cut one's losses is from 1885, originally in finance, and the retailer's loss leader, a product sold at or below cost to attract customers, from 1922.[2]

Timeline

  • before 899 – Old English los, destruction.[7]
  • before 1338 – a losing.[7]
  • c. 1369 – an instance of losing; the amount lost.[9]
  • before 1450 – bereavement.[9]
  • 1590s – at a loss.[2]
  • 1885 – cut one's losses.[2]
  • 1922 – loss leader.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The act of losing something.
  2. Someone or something lost, or the amount lost.
  3. The state of being deprived of someone or something; bereavement.
  4. The harm or suffering caused by losing.
  5. A defeat in a game or contest.
  6. An amount by which costs exceed income.

Word family

  • lossmaker
  • lossy
  • stop-loss
  • capital loss
  • loss function
  • loss leader
  • loss ratio
  • profit and loss

Usage notes

The OED records two unrelated obsolete words: a noun loss, “a lynx”, from 1481, and a verb loss, “to unload a vessel”, from 1482.[9]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  8. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press