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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

English

last

/lɑːst/
Final, ultimate, coming after all others of its kind.

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    • derived
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    • meaning component
    • sound component
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    Origin

    Etymology 1

    From Middle English laste, latst, syncopated variant of latest, both ultimately from Old English latost. Doublet of latest.

    Etymology 2

    From Middle English lasten, from Old English lǣstan, from Proto-West Germanic *laistijan, from Proto-Germanic *laistijaną. Cognate with German leisten (“yield”).

    Etymology 3

    The noun is derived from Middle English lest, leste (“shoemaker’s model shaped like a foot, last”), from Old English lǣste (“shoemaker‘s last”), from Proto-Germanic *laistiz, from *laisǭ (“track, trail”), from Proto-Indo-European *leys-eh₂-, from *leys- (“to trace; to track”). Doublet of learn and lore.

    The verb is derived from the noun.

    cognates

    * Dutch leest

    * German Leisten

    * Proto-Germanic *laistaz (“footprint”)

    * Swedish läst

    Etymology 4

    From Middle English last, from Old English hlæst (“burden, load, freight”), from Proto-Germanic *hlastuz (“burden, load, freight”), from Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂- (“to put, lay out”). Cognate with West Frisian lêst, Dutch last, German Last, Swedish last, Icelandic lest.

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • inheritedMiddle Englishlaste
      • inherited (ultimately)Old Englishlatost
    • derivedMiddle Englishlasten
      • derivedOld Englishlǣstan “to follow, pursue; to carry out, perform”
        • derivedProto-West Germanic*laistijan “to follow, pursue; to carry out, perform”
          • derivedProto-Germanic*laistijaną “to follow, pursue”
    • rootProto-Indo-European*leys- “to trace, track”
    • inheritedMiddle Englishlest
      • inheritedOld Englishlǣste “shoemaker‘s last”
        • inheritedProto-Germanic*laistiz
          • inheritedProto-Indo-European*leys-eh₂-
    • derivedMiddle Englishlast “fault, vice”
      • derivedOld Englishhlæst “burden, load, freight”
        • derivedProto-Germanic*hlastuz “burden, load, freight”
          • derivedProto-Indo-European*kleh₂- “to put, lay out”

    Related: English learn (doublet), English latest (doublet), English lore (doublet), German leisten, Dutch leest, German Leisten, Proto-Germanic *laistaz, Swedish läst, West Frisian lêst, Dutch last, German Last, Swedish last, Icelandic lest

    Meanings

    adj
    1. Final, ultimate, coming after all others of its kind.
    2. Most recent, latest, last so far.
    3. Farthest of all from a given quality, character, or condition; most unlikely, or least preferable.
    4. Being the only one remaining of its class.
    5. Supreme; highest in degree; utmost.
    6. Lowest in rank or degree.
    det
    1. The (one) immediately before the present.
    2. Closest in the past, or closest but one if the closest was very recent; of days, sometimes thought to specifically refer to the instance closest to seven days (one week) ago, or the most recent instance before seven days (one week) ago.
    adv
    1. Most recently.
    2. after everything else; finally
    verb
    1. To endure, continue over time.
    2. To hold out, continue undefeated or entire.
    3. To purposefully refrain from orgasm
    4. To perform, carry out.

    Sources

    • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
    • Wiktionary: last