laten

Forms

laten^[1] Strong verb: past tense liet, past participle gelaten.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch laten, inherited from Old Dutch lātan, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *lātan, inherited from Proto-Germanic *lētaną (“to let, allow”).^[4][1][5] The same word is Old Saxon lātan, Old High German lāzan (modern German lassen), Old Frisian lēta (modern West Frisian litte), Old English lǣtan (modern English let), Old Norse láta and Gothic 𐌻𐌴𐍄𐌰𐌽 (lētan).^[4][6][5][7]

The root is Proto-Indo-European *leh₁d-, also found in Ancient Greek ληδεῖν (lēdeîn, “to be tired”) and Albanian lodh (“to tire”); its zero grade gave Latin lassus (“tired”), from *lh₁d-to-, and the Germanic adjective behind laat “late”.^[4][5][6] De Vries took the basic sense of the root to be “to slacken, grow weak”.^[6] A link with Lithuanian léisti (“to let go”) is uncertain, and Franck and Van Wijk warned against building a root ⟨lēid-⟩ on it.^[4][8]

Middle Dutch also had a short form laen, with the imperative lach, which the Middle Dutch dictionary thinks may have come from Middle High German lân, though it doubts that a loan is needed.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old Dutch had the derivative farlāton “to forsake” in the Wachtendonck Psalms of the 10th century.^[4] The simple verb lātan is recorded around 1100 in the Leiden Willeram, where it means “to leave open”, of leaving no gap open to evil spirits, and “to let go”.^[10] The first Middle Dutch record, from Limburg in 1200, is dat hene hen lange lite leuen “that he let them live long”.^[4][11]

Semantic evolution

Even the earliest Middle Dutch verb had a wide range of senses: “to leave in a state or place”, “to leave behind, bequeath”, “to abandon”, “to refrain from”, “to end”.^[4][11] Some of these were later taken over by derivatives such as achterlaten, nalaten, toelaten, verlaten and vrijlaten.^[4] Because the verb meant “to allow”, it served from the start as an auxiliary in the pattern laten + object + infinitive.^[4] Later in Middle Dutch the imperative in laet ons in iudea gaen “let us go to Judea” (1285) was gradually reshaped, under the influence of patterns such as mogen wi, into laten wi (about 1410), and so arose the modal laten we;^[4] laat ons survives in formal use, more in Belgium, especially in laat ons bidden.^[4]

With bodily things laten means “to let out”: een traan laten, een wind laten (1692), bloed laten.^[2][12] The saying leven en laten leven “live and let live” is found in Dutch in 1604, well before Wieland used the German form.^[13] In Surinamese Dutch laten also means “to leave, abandon”, of a school or a partner.^[3][1] The verb passed into Berbice Dutch (latn), Skepi Dutch (at), Madurese and Sranan Tongo, where lâte means “to break wind”.^[14]

Timeline

• 901–1000 – Old Dutch farlāton “to forsake” in the Wachtendonck Psalms.^[4]
• c. 1100 – Old Dutch lātan in the Leiden Willeram.^[10]
• 1200 – Middle Dutch lite leuen “let live” in Limburg.^[4][11]
• 1236 – The sense “not to prevent, to leave, to give up”.^[15][7]
• 1260–80 – Quite laten “to set free”.^[4][11]
• 1285 – Laet ons in iudea gaen “let us go to Judea”.^[4]
• c. 1410 – Laten wy in Gods geleide varen “let us travel in God's keeping”, the new modal construction.^[4]
• 1604 – Leven en laten leven “live and let live”.^[13]
• 1692 – Een wind laten “to break wind”.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To let, allow: Hij laat de kat binnen.^[12][1]
2. To leave, keep in a place or state: Laat de deur maar open.^[12][1]
3. To let out, not hold back: een zucht laten.^[12][2]
4. To give up: het leven laten “to die”.^[12]
5. To refrain from, stop doing: Laat dat!^[12][1]
6. To leave behind, not take along: Ik heb mijn tas in de trein gelaten.^[12]
7. To have something done, cause to happen: Ze laat haar haar knippen.^[12][1]
8. As an auxiliary of exhortation: Laten we gaan.^[12][1]
9. (Suriname, colloquial) To leave, break up with a partner.^[1][3]

Word family

• achterlaten
• aflaten
• binnenlaten
• doorlaten
• inlaten
• loslaten
• nalaten
• neerlaten
• overlaten
• toelaten
• uitlaten
• verlaten
• vrijlaten
• weglaten
• gelaten
• aderlaten

Related words

• laat
• English let
• German lassen

Usage notes

Doen en laten means one's whole conduct.^[2] De Vreese condemned the Southern Dutch ik laat u “I'm leaving you”, after French je vous laisse, and te wensen laten for te wensen overlaten, as gallicisms.^[16] A Brabant dialect verb laten “to stand chatting” is a separate formation from laat “late”.^[17]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Vries, Matthias de; Winkel, L. A. te, et al. (1882–1998), Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal, 29 vols., 's-Gravenhage / Leiden: Nijhoff / Sijthoff / SDU; supplement 2001; gtb.ivdnt.org
3. ^ a b c Donselaar, J. van (1989), Woordenboek van het Surinaams-Nederlands, Muiderberg: Coutinho
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Philippa, Marlies; Debrabandere, Frans; Quak, Arend; Schoonheim, Tanneke; Sijs, Nicoline van der (2003–2009), Etymologisch woordenboek van het Nederlands, 4 vols., Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press; online via etymologiebank.nl
5. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 221
8. ^ Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
9. ^ Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
10. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org
11. ^ a b c d Pijnenburg, W. J. J., et al. (2001), Vroegmiddelnederlands woordenboek: woordenboek van het Nederlands van de dertiende eeuw in hoofdzaak op basis van het Corpus-Gysseling, Leiden: Instituut voor Nederlandse Lexicologie; gtb.ivdnt.org
12. ^ a b c d e f g h i Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
13. ^ a b Stoett, F. A. (1923–1925), Nederlandsche spreekwoorden, spreekwijzen, uitdrukkingen en gezegden, 4th ed., 3 vols., Zutphen: Thieme
14. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
15. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
16. ^ Vreese, Willem de (1899), Gallicismen in het Zuidnederlandsch, Gent: Siffer
17. ^ Debrabandere, Frans (2010), Brabants etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van de woordenschat van Antwerpen, Brussel, Noord-Brabant en Vlaams-Brabant, Zwolle: Wbooks