English
let
Let comes from Middle English leten ‘to let’, from Proto-Germanic *lētaną ‘to leave behind, allow’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leh₁d-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leh₁d-‘to be tired’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*lētaną‘to leave behind’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*lātan‘to let’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150lǣtan‘to allow’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500leten‘to let’
- Englishearliest quotation 1485let
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leh₁d-‘to be tired’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*lētaną‘to leave behind’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*lātan‘to let’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150lǣtan‘to allow’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500leten‘to let’
- Englishearliest quotation 1485let
Earliest quotation: 1485, Sir Thomas Malory: “Soo within a whyle kynge Pellinore cam with a…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *leh₁d- ‘to be tired, leave’
through Old English lǣtan ‘to allow, let go, bequeath, leave, rent’
Another origin of let
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leh₁d-‘to be tired’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*lh₁d-o-reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*lataz‘late’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*latjaną‘to make slow, delay, hinder’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*lattjan‘to hinder’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150lettan‘to hinder, delay”’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500letten‘to hinder, delay’
- Englishtodaylet
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.
Today it means
verb To allow to, not to prevent (+ infinitive, but usually without to).
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.