left
UK /ˈlɛft/ · US /ˈɫɛft/ adjective, adverb, noun, proper noun
Also a form of leave
Forms further left farther left lefter furthest left farthest left leftmost leftest lefts the Left
- adjective 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: ← “The left side.”
- adjective Anticlockwise, particularly when describing a change in direction or orientation. “The road up ahead contains a left bend.”
- adjective (geography) 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.”
- adjective (politics) Left-wing; pertaining to the political left.
- adjective (syntax) Relating to the beginning or earlier part of a phrase. “left dislocation”
- adverb On the left side.
- adverb Towards the left side. “Turn left at the corner. NO! Your other left.”
- adverb Towards the political left. “The East Coast of the US leans left in elections.”
- noun The left side or direction.
- noun (politics) 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.”
- noun The left hand or fist.
- noun (boxing) A punch delivered with the left fist.
- noun (surfing) A wave breaking from left to right (viewed from the shore).
- adjective leftover, remaining
- proper noun (politics) The political left wing seen as a whole, as distinguished from an individual left-wing political party.
Synonyms
sinister sinistral port 9 o'clock left wing leftists left hand left field leftfield leftover left over odd remaining unexpended left-hand
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English left, luft, leoft, lift, lyft, from Old English left, lyft (“weak, clumsy, foolish”), attested in Old English lyftādl (“palsy, paralysis”), from Proto-Germanic *luft-, from *lubjaną (“to castrate, lop off”) (compare dialectal English lib, West Frisian lobje, Dutch lubben), from Proto-Indo-European *(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”).
From Middle English left, variant of laft (“remaining, left”), from Old English lǣfed, ġelǣfed, past participle of lǣfan (“to leave”). More at leave.
From Middle English levit, ilevet, y-levyd, from Old English ġelȳfd, ġelȳfed, past participle of Old English ġelȳfan, lȳfan (“to allow, permit”), equivalent to leave (“to give leave to, allow, grant, permit”) + -ed.
Webster’s 1913
- verb of Leave.
- adjective Of or pertaining to that side of the body in man on which the muscular action of the limbs is usually weaker than on the other side; --opposed to right, when used in reference to a part of the body; as, the left ear. Also said of the corresponding side of the lower animals. Left bank of a river, that which is on the left hand of a person whose face is turned downstream.
- noun that part of surrounding space toward which the left side of one's body is turned; as, the house is on the left when you face North.
- noun those members of a legislative assembly (as in France) who are in the opposition; the advanced republicans and extreme radicals. They have their seats at the left-hand side of the presiding officer. See Center, and Right.
Etymology [OE. left, lift, luft; akin to Fries. leeft, OD.lucht, luft; cf. AS.left (equiv. to L. inanis), lyftadl palsy; or cf. AS.l weak.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “left”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details