Wiktionary

left

See also: lëft

English

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Etymology 1

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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”), dialectal Dutch loof (“weak, worthless”), Low German lucht (“left”).

Alternative forms

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  • (political left): Left

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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left (comparative more left or lefter, superlative most left or leftmost)

  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
    The left side.
  2. (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.
    • 1904 March 23 [1904 March 22], Viceroy Alexieff, quotee, “Waiting for the First Collision in the Yalu Region”, in St. Louis Post-Dispatch‎[1], 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.
  3. (politics) Left-wing; pertaining to the political left.
    Antonym: right
 
The fruit to the viewer's left is smaller.
Derived terms
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left direction:

left-wing (politics):

Translations
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west side of the body when one is facing north

Adverb

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left (not comparable)

  1. On the left side.
    Antonym: right
  2. Towards the left side.
    Antonym: right
    Turn left at the corner. NO! Your other left.
  3. Towards the political left.
    Antonym: right
    The East Coast of the US leans left in elections.
Derived terms
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Translations
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Noun

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left (plural lefts)

  2. The left side or direction.
    Synonyms: 9 o'clock, port
  3. (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.
  4. The left hand or fist.
  5. (boxing) A punch delivered with the left fist.
  6. (surfing) A wave breaking from left to right (viewed from the shore).
    Antonym: right
Synonyms
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Derived terms
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Translations
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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Etymology 2

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From Middle English left, variant of laft (“remaining, left”), from Old English lǣfd, ġelǣfd, past participle of lǣfan (“to leave”). More at leave.

Verb

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left

  1. simple past and past participle of leave (“depart, separate from; (cause or allow to) remain”).
    There's not much food left.
    • 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.
    • 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.
Derived terms
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Translations
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Etymology 3

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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.

Verb

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left

  1. simple past and past participle of leave (“permit”).
    We were not left go to the beach after school except on a weekend.

References

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

Anagrams

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Yola

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Etymology

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From Middle English left, from Old English lyft.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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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."

Derived terms

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References

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  • Kathleen A. Browne (1927) The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland Sixth Series, Vol.17 No.2, Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, page 129
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