loss English · revision 3364

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=back-formation|attested=before 899 (Old English los); 14th century|origins=enm losen}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /lɒs/, US /lɑːs/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Old English had [[m|ang|los|t=ruin, destruction]], from Proto-Germanic *lausa-, from [[ine-pro|*leu-|t=to loosen, divide, cut apart]].^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) But this scarcely survived into Middle English, and the modern word, Middle English los, is probably a back-formation [[der|enm|lost]], the past participle of [[m|enm|losen|t=to lose]], modern [[lose]].^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(Hoad 1986)^(Klein 1966) Hoad says it does not continue the Old English word, which was used only in the phrase tō lose “to destruction”,^(Hoad 1986) while Barnhart traces it to Old English los.^(Barnhart 1988) It is related to [[loose]].^(COED 2004)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old English los “loss, destruction” is first recorded before 899, in Alfred's translation of Boethius,^(Barnhart 1988) or about 897 in the OED.^(OED 1989) Middle English los “death, destruction” is probably from before 1200, in Layamon,^(Barnhart 1988) and the weaker sense “a losing” from before 1338^(Barnhart 1988) or 1377.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The modern word meant “failure to keep or hold what one had; failure to win”.^(Etymonline) Being deprived of a friend or relative by death is from before 1450,^(OED 1989) and losing a battle or game from the 14th century.^(OED 1989) An instance of losing, or the person, thing or amount lost, is from about 1369.^(OED 1989) ''At a loss'', “uncertain, puzzled”, is from the 1590s, a phrase from hunting, of hounds that have lost the scent.^(Etymonline) ''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.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 899 – Old English ''los'', destruction.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1338 – a losing.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1369 – an instance of losing; the amount lost.^(OED 1989)

+ * before 1450 – bereavement.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1590s – ''at a loss''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1885 – ''cut one's losses''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1922 – ''loss leader''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The act of losing something.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # Someone or something lost, or the amount lost.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # The state of being deprived of someone or something; [[bereavement]].^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # The harm or suffering caused by losing.^(AHD)

+ # A defeat in a game or contest.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # An amount by which costs exceed income.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[lossmaker]]

+ * [[lossy]]

+ * [[stop-loss]]

+ * [[capital loss]]

+ * [[loss function]]

+ * [[loss leader]]

+ * [[loss ratio]]

+ * [[profit and loss]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lose]]

+ * [[lost]]

+ * [[loose]]

+ * [[-less]]

+ * [[forlorn]]

+

+ ==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.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}