lest

See also: lesť

English

Etymology

c. 1200, contracted from Middle English les te (“less that”), from Old English þy læs þe (“whereby less that”), from þy (instrumental case of demonstrative article þæt “that”) + læs (“less”) + þe (“the”). The þy was dropped and the remaining two words contracted into leste.[1]

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /lɛst/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛst

Conjunction

lest

  1. (Can we clean up(+) this sense?) For fear that; that […] not; in order that […] not; in case.
    • 1967, Bob Dylan (music), “I Am a Lonesome Hobo”, in John Wesley Harding‎:
      Stay free from petty jealousies / Live by no man's code / And hold your judgment for yourself / Lest you wind up on this road
    • 2013 July 27, “Lunacy?”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8846:
      Lest any astrologer reading this result get cocky, Dr Cajochen does not believe that what he has found is directly influenced by the Moon through, say, some tidal effect. What he thinks he has discovered is an additional hand on the body’s clock-face.
    He won't go outside, lest he be eaten by those ravenous eagles.
  2. That (without the negative particle); – after certain expressions denoting fear or apprehension.
    • 1868, Anthony Trollope, He Knew He Was Right XI
      ‘That you and I should be in the same house together and not able to speak to each other is in itself a misery, but this is terribly enhanced by the dread lest this state of things should be made to continue.’
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 4, in The Celebrity:
      Mr. Cooke at once began a tirade against the residents of Asquith for permitting a sandy and generally disgraceful condition of the roads. So roundly did he vituperate the inn management in particular, and with such a loud flow of words, that I trembled lest he should be heard on the veranda.

Usage notes

The word lest is always followed by the subjunctive mood, usually in either the present or future tense.

For example: Lest they be captured, the soldiers fled from the battlefield.

The future subjunctive would simply employ the auxiliary word should.

Synonyms

  • (for fear that): before (informal)

Translations

See also

References

  1. ↑ “lest” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001–2018.

Anagrams

Czech

Pronunciation

  • audio(file)
  • IPA(key): /ˈlɛst/

Noun

lest f

  1. trick, ruse
  2. stratagem

Declension

Derived terms

Anagrams

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • Audio(file)

Verb

lest

  1. second- and third-person singular present indicative of lessen
  2. (archaic) plural imperative of lessen

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch last (“load, burden”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /lɛst/
  • audio(file)

Noun

lest m (plural lests)

  1. dead weight; ballast

Derived terms

Further reading

Anagrams

German

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /leːst/

Verb

lest

  1. inflection of lesen:
    1. second-person plural present indicative
    2. second-person plural imperative

Icelandic

Etymology

From Middle Low German last.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈlɛst/
  • Rhymes: -ɛst

Noun

lest f (genitive singular lestar, nominative plural lestir)

  1. train, file, row, line
  2. railway train
  3. cargo hold
  4. ton
  5. (obsolete) cargo, burden, load

Declension

Synonyms

Derived terms

  • bílalest (“convoy of cars”)
  • hraðlest (“high speed train”)
  • járnbrautarlest (“railroad train”)
  • neðanjarðarlest (“underground train”)
  • rúmlest (“register ton”)
  • skipalest (“convoy of ships”)
  • smálest (“metric ton”)
  • ulfaldalest (“convoy of camels”)
  • lesta (“to load, to fill with cargo”)

Norwegian Bokmål

Verb

lest

  1. past participle of lese
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