last: [OE] Modern English has three separate words last, two of which are related. The adjective, meaning ‘after all others’, originated in prehistoric Germanic as the superlative form of late; its modern Germanic relatives include German letzt and Dutch laatst. The verb last ‘continue’ goes back to a prehistoric Germanic *laistjan ‘follow a track’, which also produced modern German leisten ‘perform, afford’.
This was derived from *laisti-, as was ultimately the noun last, which in Old English meant ‘footprint’ (‘shoemaker’s model foot’ is a secondary development). The general semantic thread ‘following a track’ can be traced back further via Germanic *lais- (a variant of which gave English learn) to Indo-European *leis- (source of Latin dēlīrāre, literally ‘deviate from a straight track’, from which English gets delirious [18]). => delirious, late, learn
last (adj., adv.)
"following all others," from Old English latost (adj.) and lætest (adv.), superlative of læt (see late). Cognate with Old Frisian lest, Dutch laatst, Old High German laggost, German letzt. Meaning "most recent" is from c. 1200. The noun, "last person or thing," is c. 1200, from the adjective. Last hurrah is from the title of Edwin O'Connor's 1956 novel. Last word "final, definitive statement" is from 1650s. A dying person's last words so called by 1740. As an adjective, last-minute attested from 1913. Last-chance (adj.) is from 1962.
last (v.)
"endure, go on existing," from Old English læstan "to continue, endure," earlier "accomplish, carry out," literally "to follow a track," from Proto-Germanic *laistjan "to follow a track" (cognates: Gothic laistjan "to follow," Old Frisian lasta "to fulfill, to pay (duties)," German leisten "to perform, achieve, afford"), from PIE *leis- (1) "track, furrow" (see learn).
Related to last (n.), not to last (adj.). Related: Lasted; lasting.
last (n.)
"shoemaker's block," from Old English læste, from last "track, footprint, trace," from Proto-Germanic *laist- (cognates: Old Norse leistr "the foot," Middle Dutch, Dutch leest "form, model, last," Old High German leist "track, footprint," German Leisten "last," Gothic laistjan "to follow," Old English læran "to teach"); see last (v.).
双语例句
1. A fellow doesn't last long on what he has done. He's got to keep on delivering as he goes along.--Carl Hubbell, Baseball Player
靠过去完成的无法让人保有成功，必须在路上持续交出成绩。
来自金山词霸 每日一句
2. Friendship means understanding, not agreement. It means forgiveness, not forgetting.It means the memories last, even if contact is lost.
友情是理解，不是妥协；是原谅，不是遗忘。即使不联系，感情依然在。
来自金山词霸 每日一句
3. She ran away with a man called McTavish last year.
去年，她和一个叫麦克塔维什的男人私奔了。
来自柯林斯例句
4. I picked first all the people who usually were left till last.
我先挑出了所有通常留到最后的人。
来自柯林斯例句
5. The Liberal Democrat'ssupport fell away at the last minute.
