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-1‘to be tired’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*lētaną1‘to leave behind’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*lātan1‘to let’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150lǣtan1‘to allow’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500leten1‘to let’
- Englishearliest quotation 1485let1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English let
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1485, Sir Thomas Malory: “Soo within a whyle kynge Pellinore cam with a…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leh₁d-Wiktionary, English let‘to be tired’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*lētanąWiktionary, English let‘to leave behind’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*lātanWiktionary, English let‘to let’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150lǣtanWiktionary, English let‘to allow’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500letenWiktionary, English let‘to let’
- Englishearliest quotation 1485letWiktionary, English let. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1485, Sir Thomas Malory: “Soo within a whyle kynge Pellinore cam with a…”
Word family
English words that share an ancestor with let, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.
through Proto-Indo-European *leh₁d- ‘to be tired, leave’
through Old English lǣtan ‘to allow, let go, bequeath, leave, rent’
- leet ← lēt
4 more relatives in the full family tree
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Another origin of let
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leh₁d-‘to be tired’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lh₁d-o-reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*lataz‘late’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 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.
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Today it means
verb To allow to, not to prevent (+ infinitive, but usually without to).
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “let”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.