let
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
Letters
3 characters
Language
English
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Detailed reference entry for the English word "let", 3-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "let" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "let" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
let is aEnglishverb. It means: To allow to, not to prevent (+ infinitive, but usually without to). Pronounced /lɛt/. It ranks #228 in English word frequency. Often confused with li and Lt.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | let |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /lɛt/ |
| Letters | 3 |
| Frequency rank | #228 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for let is 3 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /lɛt/. Corpus data places it at rank #228 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language.Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
No frequent misspelling variants are recorded for let in our index, suggesting the orthography either follows predictable English patterns or the word is uncommon enough that typo corpora lack signal.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "li", "Lt", "lo", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Derived from Middle English leten, læten, from Old English lǣtan (“to allow, let go, bequeath, leave, rent”), from Proto-West Germanic *lātan, from Proto-Germanic *lētaną (“to leave behind, allow”), from Proto-Indo-European *leh₁d- (“to be tired, leave”). C… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is let, spelled L-E-T, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1To allow to, not to prevent (+ infinitive, but usually without to).
- 2To allow to be or do without interference; to not disturb or meddle with; to leave alone.
- 3To allow the release of (a fluid).
- 4To allow possession of (a property etc.) in exchange for rent.
- 5To give, grant, or assign, as a work, privilege, or contract; often with out.
- 6Used to introduce a first or third person imperative verb construction.
- 7To cause (+ bare infinitive).
Etymology
Derived from Middle English leten, læten, from Old English lǣtan (“to allow, let go, bequeath, leave, rent”), from Proto-West Germanic *lātan, from Proto-Germanic *lētaną (“to leave behind, allow”), from Proto-Indo-European *leh₁d- (“to be tired, leave”). Cognates Cognate with Scots lat, lete (“to let, leave”), Yola leth (“let”), North Frisian leet, let, lätje (“to let”), Bavarian låssn (“to let”), Dutch, Low German laten (“to let, leave”), German lassen, laßen (“to let, leave, allow”), Luxembourgish loossen (“to let, leave”), Yiddish לאָזן (lozn, “to let”), Danish lade (“to let, allow, leave”), Faroese, Icelandic láta (“to let”), Norwegian Bokmål la (“to let, leave”), Norwegian Nynorsk la, lata, late (“let, allow”), Swedish låta (“to let, allow, leave”), Gothic 𐌻𐌴𐍄𐌰𐌽 (lētan, “to let”), Albanian lë (“to allow, let, leave”) and partially related to French laisser (“to let”).
This word in other languages
Frequency rank: #228 in English
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Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter L in our English index: