lætan

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *lātan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlæː.tɑn/

Verb

lǣtan

1. to let, allow
   • Exeter Book, Chrtist A, The Navitivity

     ...Ne lǣt awyrġde ofer us onwald āgan...

     Let not the accursed have power over us...

   • c. 992, Ælfric, "Sermon on the Beginning of Creation"

     God lēt hīe habban āgenne cyre swā hīe heora Sċieppend lufoden and folgoden swā hīe hine forlēten.

     God let them have their own choice whether to love and follow their creator or abandon him.

   • c. 992, Ælfric, "On the Lord's Prayer"

     God lǣt him fierst þæt hē his māndǣda ġeswīce.

     God gives (lit. allows) him time to stop his misdeeds.

   • Blickling Homilies, "The Third Sunday in Lent"

     Ēalā þū ġītsiġenda and welega, hwæt dēst þū þē ġif Dryhten on þē ġenimþ nigon dǣlas þīnes welan and þē lǣtt þone tēoðan dǣl ǣnne habban?

     You greedy rich people, what are you going to do if the Lord takes ninety percent of your wealth and only lets you have ten percent of it?

   • c. 992, Ælfric, "On the Festival of St. Peter the Apostle"

     Petrus cnocode forþ oþ þæt hīe hine inn lēton.

     Peter kept knocking until they let him in.

2. (auxiliary) to have someone do something, have something done [with infinitive]
   • late 9th century, translation of Bede's Ecclesiastical History

     Hē sette scōle and on þǣre hē lēt cneohtas lǣran.

     He founded a school and had boys taught there.

   • c. 996, Ælfric's Lives of Saints, "St. Euphrasia, Virgin"

     Þā þæt ċild wæs seofonwintre, þā lēton hīe hīe fulwian and nemdon hīe Euphrosyne.

     When the child was seven, they had her baptized and named her Euphrosyne.

   • Blickling Homilies, "The Annunciation of Saint Mary"

     God ne lǣtt ūs nā costnian ofer ġemet.

     God won't have us tempted more than we can handle.

3. to leave someone/something in a certain situation
   • c. 992, Ælfric, "The Nativity of St. Paul the Apostle"

     Sē hālga Paulus wæs ġestǣned oþ dēaþ, swā þæt þā ēhteras hine for dēadne lēton, ac þæs on morgne hē ārās and fērde ymb his bodunge.

     Saint Paul was stoned so severely that the attackers left him for dead, but then in the morning he got up and went back to preaching.

   • 1038, charter concerning Harold Harefoot

     Sē ærċebisċop lēt hit eall tō heora āgene rǣde.

     The archbishop left it all to their own discretion.

   • c. 992, Ælfric, "Easter Sunday"

     Þā mānfullan hē lēt bæftan tō ēċum wītum.

     The wicked he left behind to suffer eternal torment.

   • late 10th century, Ælfric, the Old English Hexateuch, Exodus 21:27

     Ġif hwā his wēales tōþ of āslēa, lǣt hine friġne.

     If someone knocks their slave's tooth out, set them free.

4. to suppose

Usage notes

• In sense 2 (“to have something done, have someone do something”), lǣtan is used with the infinitive of the following verb, not the past participle: Iċ lēt hine tō Engla lande bringan þæt hē wiþ mīne lǣċas rēde (“I had him brought [lit. let bring him] over to England to consult with my doctors”).

Conjugation

Conjugation of lǣtan (strong class 7)

infinitive	lǣtan	lǣtenne
indicative mood	present tense	past tense
first person singular	lǣte	lēt, leort
second person singular	lǣtst	lēte, leorte
third person singular	lǣtt, lǣt	lēt, leort
plural	lǣtaþ	lēton, leorton
subjunctive	present tense	past tense
singular	lǣte	lēte, leorte
plural	lǣten	lēten, leorten
imperative
singular	lǣt
plural	lǣtaþ
participle	present	past
	lǣtende	(ġe)lǣten

Derived terms

• forlǣtan
• tōlǣtan

Descendants

• Middle English: leten, letten
  • English: let
  • Scots: lat, let, lete
  • Yola: leth