Dictionary De - En
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De - Pt| English Dictionary: letting | by the DICT Development Group |
| 2 results for letting | |
| From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]: | |
| From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: | |
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Let \Let\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Let} ({Letted} (l[ecr]t"t[ecr]d), [Obs].); p. pr. & vb. n. {Letting}.] [OE. leten, l[91]ten (past tense lat, let, p. p. laten, leten, lete), AS. l[aemac]tan (past tense l[emac]t, p. p. l[aemac]ten); akin to OFries. l[emac]ta, OS. l[be]tan, D. laten, G. lassen, OHG. l[be]zzan, Icel. l[be]ta, Sw. l[86]ta, Dan. lade, Goth. l[emac]tan, 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.] 1. To leave; to relinquish; to abandon. [Obs. or Archaic, except when followed by alone or be.] He . . . prayed him his voyage for to let. --Chaucer. Yet neither spins nor cards, ne cares nor frets, But to her mother Nature all her care she lets. --Spenser. Let me alone in choosing of my wife. --Chaucer. 2. To consider; to think; to esteem. [Obs.] --Chaucer. 3. To cause; to make; -- used with the infinitive in the active form but in the passive sense; as, let make, i. e., cause to be made; let bring, i. e., cause to be brought. [Obs.] This irous, cursed wretch Let this knight's son anon before him fetch. --Chaucer. He . . . thus let do slay hem all three. --Chaucer. Anon he let two coffers make. --Gower. 4. To permit; to allow; to suffer; -- either affirmatively, by positive act, or negatively, by neglecting to restrain or prevent. Note: In this sense, when followed by an infinitive, the latter is commonly without the sign to; as to let us walk, i. e., to permit or suffer us to walk. Sometimes there is entire omission of the verb; as, to let [to be or to go] loose. Pharaoh said, I will let you go. --Ex. viii. 28. If your name be Horatio, as I am let to know it is. --Shak. 5. To allow to be used or occupied for a compensation; to lease; to rent; to hire out; -- often with out; as, to let a farm; to let a house; to let out horses. 6. To give, grant, or assign, as a work, privilege, or contract; -- often with out; as, to let the building of a bridge; to let out the lathing and the plastering. Note: The active form of the infinitive of let, as of many other English verbs, is often used in a passive sense; as, a house to let (i. e., for letting, or to be let). This form of expression conforms to the use of the Anglo-Saxon gerund with to (dative infinitive) which was commonly so employed. See {Gerund}, 2. [bd] Your elegant house in Harley Street is to let.[b8] --Thackeray. In the imperative mood, before the first person plural, let has a hortative force. [bd] Rise up, let us go.[b8] --Mark xiv. 42. [bd] Let us seek out some desolate shade.[b8] --Shak. {To let alone}, to leave; to withdraw from; to refrain from interfering with. {To let blood}, to cause blood to flow; to bleed. {To let down}. (a) To lower. (b) To soften in tempering; as, to let down tools, cutlery, and the like. | |
