let English · revision 1791

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 725|origins=ine-pro *lē-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /let/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The verb meaning “to allow” is [[inh|enm|leten]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(AHD)^(MWU 2024) [[inh|ang|lǣtan]], Anglian [[m|ang|lētan|t=to allow; to leave behind, leave undone; to bequeath; to rent]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Chambers 2008) from [[gem-pro|*lētaną]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) from [[ine-pro|*lēd-]], an extended form of [[m|ine-pro|*lē-|t=to let go, slacken]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000)^(Klein 1966) Its cognates include [[ofs|lēta]], [[osx|lātan]], [[nl|laten]], [[goh|lāzzan]] (modern [[de|lassen]]), [[non|láta]] and [[got|𐌻𐌴𐍄𐌰𐌽|tr=lētan]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) and outside Germanic [[la|lassus|t=weary]], [[grc|ληδεῖν|tr=lēdeîn|t=to be weary]] and [[lt|leisti|t=to let]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(Klein 1966) It is related to [[late]];^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002)^(COED 2004) Hoad takes the primary sense to be “let go through weariness”.^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) The shortening of the vowel has not been satisfactorily explained.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) The archaic verb “to hinder” and the noun ''let'' “obstruction” are a different word, Middle English [[m|enm|letten]], from Old English [[m|ang|lettan|t=to hinder, delay]], literally “to make late”, from the base of [[m|ang|læt|t=slow, late]];^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)^(AHD)^(SOED 2002) it is related to [[got|𐌻𐌰𐍄𐌾𐌰𐌽|tr=latjan|t=to hinder, make late]] and [[de|verletzen|t=to hurt]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(Weekley 1921)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In Old English, to allow; to leave behind, leave undone; to let go; to put out to rent (before 725).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Etymonline quotes Hensleigh Wedgwood on the idea of slackening at the root of both uses: to let someone do something is to loosen a restraint, while being slack oneself gave the sense of delaying or omitting to do.^(Etymonline) Weekley and Etymonline compare French ''laisser'' “to let”, from Latin ''laxāre'' “to slacken”.^(Weekley 1921)^(Etymonline) The Old English senses “to leave behind”, “to leave undone, omit” and “to bequeath” are long obsolete,^(HTOED)^(SOED 2002) as are “to regard as” and “to behave, make as though”.^(HTOED)^(Etymonline) The sense of handing over land for rent is already Old English,^(Weekley 1921)^(HTOED) and ''let'' “to allow the escape of” (blood, tears) dates from late Old English.^(Etymonline)^(HTOED) ''Let'' is also used as an auxiliary in the imperative to introduce a proposal or command, as in ''let us pray''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) To award a contract after bids dates from 1850.^(HTOED) The noun ''let'' “a letting for rent” is chiefly British, from 1684 but rare before the 19th century.^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024) The verb “to hinder” survives mainly in the legal phrase ''without let or hindrance'',^(SOED 2002)^(Black's Law 2004) and in tennis, where ''a let'' is a stroke that must be replayed, a sense first recorded in 1871 (1819 in the Historical Thesaurus, of fives and rackets).^(Barnhart 1988)^(HTOED)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 725 – Old English ''lǣtan'', to allow.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 888 – ''lettan'', to hinder.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1106 – ''leten''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * c. 1175 – noun, a hindrance.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1490 – to cause, as in ''let me know''.^(HTOED)

+ * 1684 – noun, a letting for rent.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1819 – in fives and rackets, an obstruction requiring a replay.^(HTOED)

+ * 1850 – to award a contract.^(HTOED)

+ * 1855 – intransitive, to be let.^(HTOED)

+ * 1871 – a let in tennis.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To allow; not to prevent: ''let them borrow the car''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(COED 2004)

+ # To cause to: ''let me know''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Used in the imperative to express a proposal, request or command: ''let's have a drink''.^(AHD)^(COED 2004)

+ # Used to express an assumption in a calculation: ''let x equal y''.^(AHD)^(COED 2004)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Used to express a warning or challenge: ''let him try''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To allow to pass, enter or leave; to release: ''let out a scream''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(chiefly Britain)'' To rent out (a room or property).^(AHD)^(COED 2004)^(Black's Law 2004)

+ # To award (a contract), especially after bids.^(AHD)^(Black's Law 2004)

+ # ''(archaic)'' To hinder or prevent.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # An obstacle or hindrance, now chiefly in ''without let or hindrance''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Black's Law 2004)

+ # ''(tennis etc.)'' A stroke or service that does not count and must be replayed.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(Britain)'' An act of letting a property; a property that is let.^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[late]]

+ * [[lassitude]]

+ * [[alas]]

+ * [[inlet]]

+ * [[outlet]]

+ * [[lenient]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Random House notes that ''let us'' introduces a suggestion or request in all kinds of speech and writing, while the contraction ''let's'' occurs mostly in informal use.^(RHWU) Wiktionary points out that ''let me go to the store'' can be read either as a request to be allowed to go or as a first-person proposal.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}