let
/lɛt/ verb, noun
Forms lets letting letted leet letten lett lettest letteth
- verb (transitive) To allow to, not to prevent (+ infinitive, but usually without to). “After he knocked for hours, I decided to let him come in.”
- verb (transitive) To allow to be or do without interference; to not disturb or meddle with; to leave alone. “Let me be!”
- verb (transitive) To allow the release of (a fluid). “The physicians let about a pint of his blood, but to no avail.”
- verb (transitive, chiefly UK) To allow possession of (a property etc.) in exchange for rent. “I decided to let the farmhouse to a couple while I was working abroad.”
- verb (transitive) To give, grant, or assign, as a work, privilege, or contract; often with out. “to let the building of a bridge; to let out the lathing and the plastering”
- verb (auxiliary, transitive) Used to introduce a first or third person imperative verb construction. “Let's put on a show!”
- verb (transitive, obsolete except with know or be) To cause (+ bare infinitive). “Can you let me know what time you'll be arriving?”
- noun The allowing of possession of a property etc. in exchange for rent.
- verb (archaic) To hinder, prevent, impede, hamper, cumber; to obstruct (someone or something).
- verb (obsolete) To prevent someone from doing something; also to prevent something from happening.
- verb (obsolete) To tarry or delay.
- noun (obsolete or law) An obstacle or hindrance. “without let or hindrance”
- noun (tennis) The hindrance caused by the net during serve, only if the ball falls legally.
Synonyms
allow permit Lashkar-e-Taiba Lashkar-e-Toiba Lashkar-e-Tayyiba Army of the Pure Army of the Righteous net ball countenance get have lease rent
Antonyms
Etymology
Derived from Middle English leten, læten, from Old English lǣtan (“to allow, let go, bequeath, leave, rent”), from Proto-West Germanic *lātan, from Proto-Germanic *lētaną (“to leave behind, allow”), from Proto-Indo-European *leh₁d- (“to be tired, leave”).
Cognate with Scots lat, lete (“to let, leave”), Yola leth (“let”), North Frisian leet, let, lätje (“to let”), Bavarian låssn (“to let”), Dutch, Low German laten (“to let, leave”), German lassen, laßen (“to let, leave, allow”), Luxembourgish loossen (“to let, leave”), Yiddish לאָזן (lozn, “to let”), Danish lade (“to let, allow, leave”), Faroese, Icelandic láta (“to let”), Norwegian Bokmål la (“to let, leave”), Norwegian Nynorsk la, lata, late (“let, allow”), Swedish låta (“to let, allow, leave”), Gothic 𐌻𐌴𐍄𐌰𐌽 (lētan, “to let”), Albanian lë (“to allow, let, leave”) and partially related to French laisser (“to let”).
Derived from Middle English letten (“to hinder, delay”), from Old English lettan (“to hinder, delay”; literally, “to make late”), from Proto-West Germanic *lattjan, from Proto-Germanic *latjaną. Akin to Old English latian (“to delay”), Dutch letten, Old English læt (“late”). More at late, delay.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To retard; to hinder; to impede; to oppose. [Archaic]
- noun A retarding; hindrance; obstacle; impediment; delay; --common in the phrase without let or hindrance, but elsewhere archaic. Keats.
- noun A stroke in which a ball touches the top of the net in passing over.
- verb To leave; to relinquish; to abandon. [Obs. or Archaic, except when followed by alone or be.]
Etymology [OE.letten, AS. lettan to delay, to hinder, fr. læt slow; akin to D. letten to hinder, G. verletzen to hurt, Icel. letja to hold back, Goth. latjan. See Late.]
Etymology [OE. leten, læten (past tense lat, let, p. p. laten, leten, lete), AS. lætan (past tense let, p. p. læten); akin to OFries. leta, OS. latan, D. laten, G. lessen, OHG. lazzan, Icel. lata, Sw. låta, Dan. lade, Goth. letan, and L. lassus weary. The original meaning seems to have been, to let loose, let go, let drop. Cf. Alas, Late, Lassitude, Let to hinder.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “let”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details