lest

See also: Appendix:Variations of "lest"

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɛst/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

  • Rhymes: -ɛst
• (obsolete) IPA^(key): /liːst/
• (Early Modern) IPA^(key): /lɛst/, /lɛːst/

Conjunction

lest (formal, literary)

1. For fear that; that not; in order to prevent something from happening; in case.

   Synonym: (informal) before

   He won't go outside, lest he be eaten by those ravenous eagles.

   I brought my notes lest faulty memory lead me astray.

   • 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i], page 15, column 2:

     I thought to haue told thee of it, but I fear'd / Leaſt I might anger thee.

   • 1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 565:

     And then Robert Loo came out swiftly with the half-filled jar lest more be said.

   • 1967, “I Am a Lonesome Hobo”, in Bob Dylan (music), John Wesley Harding‎^[2]:

     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^[3], volume 408, number 8846, London: The Economist Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 29 January 2017:

     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.

2. (after certain expressions denoting fear or apprehension) that (without the negative particle; introduces the reason for an emotion.)

   There was danger/alarm lest the plan become known.

   I am afraid lest I revealed too much.

   • 1869 May, Anthony Trollope, “Lady Milborough as Ambassador”, in He Knew He Was Right, volume I, London: Strahan and Company, […], →OCLC, page 81:

     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.

   • 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

     [M]y ward, or rather my adopted son Leo Vincey and myself have recently passed through a real African adventure, of a nature so much more marvellous than the one which you describe, that to tell the truth I am almost ashamed to submit it to you lest you should disbelieve my tale.

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

     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

• This word has become archaic for many English speakers.
• lest is usually followed by a verb in the subjunctive mood in either the present or future tense.

For example:

Lest they be captured, the soldiers fled from the battlefield.

Let him attend the ceremony which commemorates the achievements of his ancestors, lest he forget.

In the future tense, when it is differentiated from the present, it is usually combined with should:

Let us get to the station early, lest we should miss our connection.

Translations

for fear that

• Arabic: خِيفَةَ أَنَّ (ḵīfata ʔanna), مَخَافَةَ أَن (maḵāfata ʔan)
• Bikol:

  Central Bikol: harambili

• Bulgarian: от страх да не (ot strah da ne)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 以免 (zh) (yǐmiǎn)

• Czech: ze strachu, že ..., v případě, že ...
• Danish: af frygt for at
• Dutch: uit angst dat
• Esperanto: pro timo ke
• Finnish: siltä varalta, että (+ conditional); siinä pelossa, että; sen pelossa, että; ettei (fi); jottei (fi)
• French: de peur que (fr), sans quoi (fr)
• Galician: non sexa que
• Georgian: რათა არ (rata ar)
• German: fürchtend, dass; in der Furcht, dass
• Gothic: 𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌹 (ibai)
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: μή (mḗ), μήποτε (mḗpote)

• Hebrew: פֶּן (he) (pen)
• Hungarian: nehogy (hu)
• Indonesian: jangan-jangan (id), jangan-jangan akan
• Irish: ar eagla go
• Italian: per paura che
• Japanese: しないように (shinai yō ni)
• Khmer: ក្រែង (km) (kraeŋ)
• Māori: kei tūpono
• Old English: þȳ lǣs
• Polish: żeby nie
• Portuguese: para que (pt), a fim de que ... não
• Romanian: în caz că
• Russian: из страха, что
• Serbo-Croatian: iz straha da ne, da ne bi
• Slovene: da ne bi
• Spanish: no (es) + subjunctive, no vaya a ser que
• Sundanese: bisi (su)
• Turkish: bundan korkarak
• Ukrainian: боячи́сь, що (bojačýsʹ, ščo)

that [...] not

• Bengali: পাছে (bn) (pache)
• Bulgarian: да не (da ne), за да не (za da ne)
• Czech: aby ... ne, než
• Dutch: opdat ... niet
• Finnish: ettei (fi), jottei (fi)
• French: pour que (fr) (+ ne ... pas + verb in subj. mood)
• German: bevor (de), auf dass nicht
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: μή (mḗ), μήποτε (mḗpote)

• Hungarian: nehogy (hu)
• Latin: nē (la)
• Māori: kei
• Old English: þȳ lǣs
• Polish: żeby nie
• Russian: чтобы не, и́на́че (ru) (ínáče)
• Serbo-Croatian: da ne (sh), kako ne ... (sh)
• Spanish: no (es) + subjunctive
• Swedish: så att inte (literally)
• Turkish: bunun üzerine değil, daha önce
• Ukrainian: аби́ ... не (abý ... ne), щоб ... не (ščob ... ne), щоби ... не (ščoby ... ne)

that (without the negative particle)

• Finnish: että (fi) (alternatively expressed with a participial phrase)
• Latin: nē (la)
• Polish: że (pl)
• Romanian: care (ro)
• Ukrainian: що (uk) (ščo)

See also

• in case
• lest we forget

Anagrams

• SELT, let's, TESL, LETS, ELTs, TLEs, LTEs, lets, tels, elts

Czech

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Germanic *listiz

Gothic 𐌻𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍃 (lists)

Proto-Slavic *lьstь

Czech lest

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *lьstь, from Gothic 𐌻𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍃 (lists), from Proto-Germanic *listiz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlɛst]

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

lest f

1. trick, ruse
2. stratagem

Declension

Declension of lest (mixed i-stem [type 'pěst'] feminine reducible)

	singular	plural
nominative	lest	lsti
genitive	lsti	lstí
dative	lsti	lstím, lstem
accusative	lest	lsti
vocative	lsti	lsti
locative	lsti	lstích, lstech
instrumental	lstí	lstmi

Derived terms

• lstivý

Further reading

• “lest”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “lest”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “lest”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2026

Anagrams

• slet

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch lest.

Adjective

lest (not comparable)

1. (dialectal, otherwise archaic) alternative form of laatst

Declension

Declension of lest
uninflected	lest
inflected	leste
comparative	—
		positive
predicative/adverbial		lest
indefinite	m./f. sing.	leste
	n. sing.	lest
	plural	leste
definite		leste
partitive		—

Adverb

lest

1. (dialectal, otherwise archaic) alternative form of laatst

Derived terms

• ten langen leste

References

• van der Sijs, Nicoline, editor (2010), “lest”, in Etymologiebank, Meertens Institute
• Matthias de Vries; Lambert Allard te Winkel (1864), “lest”, in Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal, published 2001

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

lest

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

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French last, lest, from Old Dutch last, from Frankish *hlasti, from Proto-Germanic *hlastuz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɛst/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Noun

lest m (plural lests)

1. dead weight; ballast

Derived terms

• lâcher du lest
• lester

Further reading

• “lest”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Anagrams

• tels

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /leːst/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Verb

lest

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

Hungarian

Etymology

les +‎ -t

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlɛʃt]
• Hyphenation: lest
• Rhymes: -ɛʃt

Noun

lest

1. accusative singular of les

Icelandic

Etymology

From Middle Low German last, from Old Saxon *hlast, from Proto-West Germanic *hlasti (“burden, load”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlɛst]
• Rhymes: -ɛst

Noun

lest f (genitive singular lestar, nominative plural lestir or (chiefly of freight (on a ship)) lestar)

1. train, file, row, line

   Synonym: röð

2. railway train

   Synonym: járnbrautarlest

3. cargo hold

   Synonyms: lestarrúm, vörurúm

4. ton

   Synonym: tonn

5. (obsolete) cargo, burden, load

   Synonyms: byrði, farmur

6. (nautical) freight, cargo

Declension

Declension of lest (feminine)

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	lest	lestin	lestir, lestar1	lestirnar, lestarnar1
accusative	lest	lestina	lestir, lestar1	lestirnar, lestarnar1
dative	lest	lestinni	lestum	lestunum
genitive	lestar	lestarinnar	lesta	lestanna

¹Chiefly of freight (on a ship).

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”)
• snarlest (“rapid transit train”)
• ulfaldalest (“convoy of camels”)

Related terms

• lesta (“to load, to fill with cargo”)

Middle High German

Alternative forms

• leȥȥest, letzt

Etymology

A contraction of leȥȥest, which was inherited from Old High German leȥȥist.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (before 13^th CE) /ˈles̠t/

Adjective

lest

1. predicative superlative degree nominative of laȥ

Descendants

• Alemannic German: letscht (seemingly via letzt)
• Bavarian: letzte (seemingly via letzt)
• German: letzte (seemingly via letzt)
• Hunsrik: letst (seemingly via letzt)
• Luxembourgish: lescht (seemingly via this form)

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /leːst/

Verb

lest

1. supine of lese

Etymology 2

From Old Norse leistr, from Proto-Germanic *laistaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɛst/

Noun

lest m (definite singular lesten, indefinite plural lester, definite plural lestene)

1. a last (a tool in the shape of a human foot, for shaping or preserving the shape of shoes)
2. (clothing) the foot-part of a stocking

Alternative forms

• (non-standard since 2005) leist

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɛst/

Verb

lest (present tense lest, past tense lest)

1. form removed with the spelling reform of 2005; superseded by less

References

• “lest” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Anagrams

• selt, slet, stel

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

From Old Norse leistr m, from Proto-Germanic *laistaz m (“track, trace; footprint”), from Proto-Indo-European *lóystos, from the root *leys- (“to trace, track”). Akin to English last, Swedish läst, and German Leisten.

Alternative forms

• leist

Noun

lest m (definite singular lesten, indefinite plural lestar, definite plural lestane)

1. a last (a tool in the shape of a human foot, for shaping or preserving the shape of shoes)
2. (clothing) the foot-part of a stocking

Derived terms

• lesta, leste (verb)

• berrlesta
• bli ved sin lest
• hoselest
• labbelest
• på lestane
• skjera alle over same lest
• skolest
• sokkelest
• strømpelest

Etymology 2

From Old Norse lest f, from either Old English hlæst, Old Frisian hlest, or Middle Low German last. In any case, from Proto-Germanic *hlastuz and Doublet of last m.

Noun

lest m (definite singular lesten, indefinite plural lester or lestar, definite plural lestene or lestane)

1. (historical) An old measure of volume, about 12 to 24 barrels.
2. (historical) An old measure of weight, about half up until a full dozen skippund.
3. (historical, nautical) An old unit of measure on the freight capacity of a ship.

Derived terms

• kommerselest m

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

lest

1. past of låst

Etymology 4

From the verb leiste (“to grow over”).

Noun

lest m (definite singular lesten, indefinite plural lestar, definite plural lestane)

1. straws and grasses that grow close to each other
2. sprouting grasses and grains

Anagrams

• selt, stel

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French lest.

Noun

lest n (plural lesturi)

1. ballast
2. load

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	lest	lestul	lesturi	lesturile
genitive-dative	lest	lestului	lesturi	lesturilor
vocative	lestule		lesturilor