left

See also: lëft

English

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Etymology 1

Category:English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European#LEFTCategory:English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *lewbʰ- (cut off)#LEFT

From Middle EnglishCategory:English terms inherited from Middle English#LEFTCategory:English terms derived from Middle English#LEFT left, luft, leoft, lift, lyft, from Old EnglishCategory:English terms inherited from Old English#LEFTCategory:English terms derived from Old English#LEFT left, lyft (weak, clumsy, foolish), attested in Old English lyftādl (palsy, paralysis), from Proto-GermanicCategory:English terms derived from Proto-Germanic#LEFT *luft-, from *lubjaną (to castrate, lop off) (compare dialectal English lib, West Frisian lobje, Dutch lubben), from Proto-Indo-EuropeanCategory:English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European#LEFT *(s)lewp-, *(s)lup- (hanging limply). Compare Scots left (left), North Frisian lefts, leeft, leefts (left), West Frisian lofts (left), obsolete Dutch lucht, leftsch, lefts, lefs (left), dialectal Dutch loof (weak, worthless), archaic Low German lucht (left).

Alternative forms

  • (political left): Left

Pronunciation

Adjective

left (comparative further left or farther left or more left or lefter, superlative furthest left or farthest left or most left or leftmost or leftest)Category:English lemmas#LEFTCategory:English adjectives#LEFTCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#LEFTCategory:Pages with entries#LEFTCategory:Pages with 2 entries#LEFT

  1. Designating the side of the body toward the west when one is facing north; the side of the body on which the heart is located in most humans; the opposite of right. This arrow points to the reader's left: ←
    Synonyms: sinister, sinistral
    Antonyms: right, dexter, dextral
    Near-synonym: port
  2. Anticlockwise, particularly when describing a change in direction or orientation.
    The road up ahead contains a left bend.Category:English terms with usage examples#LEFT
    Rotate the bolt to the left to loosen it.Category:English terms with usage examples#LEFT
  3. (geographyCategory:en:Geography#LEFT) Designating the bank of a river (etc.) on one's left when facing downstream (i.e. facing forward while floating with the current); that is, the north bank of a river that flows eastward. If this arrow: ⥲ shows the direction of the current, the tilde is on the left side of the river.
    The Eiffel Tower is on the left bank of the Seine.Category:English terms with usage examples#LEFT
    • 1904 March 23 [1904 March 22], Viceroy Alexieff, quotee, “Waiting for the First Collision in the Yalu Region”, in St. Louis Post-Dispatch, volume 56, number 215, St. Louis, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 2, column 2:
      The following dispatch has been received from Viceroy Alexieff, dated Mukden, March 22:
      “Gen. Mitchenkow reports that on March 17 our scouts approached Anju and observed on the left bank of the Ching Chong river, opposite Anju, retrenchments made by the enemy.
      Category:English terms with quotations#LEFT
  4. (politicsCategory:en:Politics#LEFT) Left-wing; pertaining to the political left.
    Antonym: right
The fruit to the viewer's left is smaller.
Derived terms

left direction:

left-wing (politics):

Translations

Adverb

left (not comparable)Category:English lemmas#LEFTCategory:English adverbs#LEFTCategory:English uncomparable adverbs#LEFTCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#LEFTCategory:Pages with entries#LEFTCategory:Pages with 2 entries#LEFT

  1. On the left side.
    Antonym: right
  2. Towards the left side.
    Antonym: right
    Turn left at the corner. NO! Your other left.Category:English terms with usage examples#LEFT
  3. Towards the political left.
    Antonym: right
    The East Coast of the US leans left in elections.Category:English terms with usage examples#LEFT
Derived terms
Translations

Noun

left (plural lefts)Category:English lemmas#LEFTCategory:English nouns#LEFTCategory:English countable nouns#LEFTCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#LEFTCategory:Pages with entries#LEFTCategory:Pages with 2 entries#LEFT

  1. The left side or direction.
    Synonyms: 9 o'clock, port
  2. (politicsCategory:en:Politics#LEFT) The left-wing political parties as a group; citizens holding left-wing views as a group.
    The Left left workers behind, thinking they had a winning demographic coalition. It hasn't really worked out for them yet.Category:English terms with usage examples#LEFT
  3. The left hand or fist.
  4. (boxingCategory:en:Boxing#LEFT) A punch delivered with the left fist.
  5. (surfingCategory:en:Surfing#LEFT) A wave breaking from left to right (viewed from the shore).
    Antonym: right
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Etymology 2

From Middle EnglishCategory:English terms inherited from Middle English#LEFTCategory:English terms derived from Middle English#LEFT left, variant of laft (remaining, left), from Old EnglishCategory:English terms inherited from Old English#LEFTCategory:English terms derived from Old English#LEFT lǣfed, ġelǣfed, past participle of lǣfan (to leave). More at leave.

Verb

leftCategory:English non-lemma forms#LEFTCategory:English verb forms#LEFTCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#LEFTCategory:Pages with entries#LEFTCategory:Pages with 2 entries#LEFT

  1. simple past and past participle of leave (depart, separate from; (cause or allow to) remain).
    • 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VIII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
      Afore we got to the shanty Colonel Applegate stuck his head out of the door. His temper had been getting raggeder all the time, and the sousing he got when he fell overboard had just about ripped what was left of it to ravellings.
      Category:English terms with quotations#LEFT
    • 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Eden Prime:
      Shepard: What's wrong with your assistant?
      Dr. Warren: Manuel has a brilliant mind, but he's always been a bit... unstable. Genius and madness are two sides of the same coin.
      Dr. Manuel: Is it madness to see the future? To see the destruction rushing towards us? To understand there is no escape? No hope? No, I am not mad. I'm the only sane one left!
      Dr. Warren: I gave him an extra dose of his meds after the attack.
      Category:English terms with quotations#LEFT
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 3

From Middle EnglishCategory:English terms inherited from Middle English#LEFTCategory:English terms derived from Middle English#LEFT levit, ilevet, y-levyd, from Old EnglishCategory:English terms inherited from Old English#LEFTCategory:English terms derived from Old English#LEFT ġelȳfd, ġelȳfed, past participle of Old EnglishCategory:English terms derived from Old English#LEFT ġelȳfan, lȳfan (to allow, permit), equivalent to leave (to give leave to, allow, grant, permit) + -edCategory:English terms suffixed with -ed#LEFT.

Verb

leftCategory:English non-lemma forms#LEFTCategory:English verb forms#LEFTCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#LEFTCategory:Pages with entries#LEFTCategory:Pages with 2 entries#LEFT

  1. simple past and past participle of leave (permit).
    We were not left go to the beach after school except on a weekend.Category:English terms with usage examples#LEFT

References

  • The Concise Dictionary of English Etymology, Walter W. Skeat.

Anagrams

Category:English contranyms#LEFTCategory:English irregular past participles#LEFTCategory:English irregular simple past forms#LEFTCategory:English terms with /ɛ/ for Old English /y/#LEFT Category:en:Directions#LEFT

Yola

Etymology

From Middle EnglishCategory:Yola terms inherited from Middle English#LEFTCategory:Yola terms derived from Middle English#LEFT left, from Old EnglishCategory:Yola terms inherited from Old English#LEFTCategory:Yola terms derived from Old English#LEFT lyft.

Pronunciation

Adjective

leftCategory:Yola lemmas#LEFTCategory:Yola adjectives#LEFTCategory:Yola entries with incorrect language header#LEFTCategory:Pages with entries#LEFTCategory:Pages with 2 entries#LEFT

  1. left
    • 1927, “ZONG OF TWI MAARKEET MOANS”, in THE ANCIENT DIALECT OF THE BARONIES OF FORTH AND BARGY, COUNTY WEXFORD, page 129, line 11:
      In durk Ich red virst mee left-vooted shoe."
      In the dark I happened first on my left-footed shoe."
      Category:Yola terms with quotations#LEFT

Derived terms

References

  • Kathleen A. Browne (1927), “THE ANCIENT DIALECT OF THE BARONIES OF FORTH AND BARGY, COUNTY WEXFORD.”, in Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of lreland (Sixth Series), volume 17, number 2, Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, page 129
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quotations Category:en:Boxing Category:en:Directions Category:en:Geography Category:en:Politics Category:en:Surfing