Forms: 1 latost, (lætest), 2–3 latest, latst, (3 Ormin lattst), 3 least, 3, 4–5 (Sc.) lest(e, 4–6 laste, 6 Sc. laist, 4– last. [OE. latost, Northumb. lætest, superl. of læt adj., late adv. Cf. OFris. letast, lest, OS. latst, last, lętist (MLG. lest, Du. laatst, lest), OHG. laȥȥôst, lęȥist (MHG. letzest, letzst, letst, mod.G. letzt), ON. latast-r. The syncopation of the vowel before -st must have originated in the inflected forms; for the subsequent dropping of the t cf. BEST. The mod. LATEST does not descend from early ME. latest, but is a new-formation on the positive.]
A. adj. Following all others; coming at the end.
I. As simple adjective.
1. Following all the others in a series, succession, order or enumeration; subsequent to all others in occurrence, existence, etc.
For the syntactical relation involved in last comer and the like, cf. early riser, etc. (See EARLY a. 1 a note.)
c. 1200. Ormin, 4168. Þe sefennde, þe lattste daȝȝ, He sette þeȝȝm to resste.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 1492. Þe formast werld adam be-gan, þar-of lameth [i.e., Lamech] þe last man.
1340. Ayenb., 245. Þe laste yefþe and þe meste and Þe heȝeste is þe yefþe of wysdom.
c. 1400. Lanfranc’s Cirurg., 58. In þe laste chapitle of þe firste book.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 288/2. Laste, save one, penultimus.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. VIII., 244. She was the last of the right lyne and name, of Plantagenet.
c. 1560. A. Scott, Poems (S.T.S.), xii. 51. It is bot waist Mo wirde to taist, Ȝe haif my laist.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 12 b. A prophete that sayd Maximilian should be the last Germaine Emperour.
1604. E. G[rimstone], D’Acosta’s Hist. Indies, V. xxviii. 415. The twelfth and last month was called Aymara.
1611. Cotgr., s.v. Dernier, The last commers get the maisterie.
1613. Purchas, Pilgrimage (1614), 223. This last clause … is added by the Talmudists.
1667. Milton, P. L., V. 166. Fairest of Starrs, last in the train of Night, If better thou belong not to the dawn. Ibid., XII. 330. Of Kings The Last.
1724. De Foe, Mem. Cavalier (1840), 275. This was the last day of May.
1794. Mrs. Radcliffe, Myst. Udolpho, iv. The sun now gave his last light.
1800. Wordsw., Waterfall & Eglantine. The Briar quaked—and much I fear Those accents were his last.
1842. Tennyson, Love & Duty, 65. A hundred times In that last kiss, which never was the last, Farewell, like endless welcome, lived and died. Ibid. (1864), En. Ard., 217. When the last of those last moments came.
1864. Le Fanu, Uncle Silas, II. v. 70. So the morning came—my last for many a day at Knowl.
b. With a cardinal numeral. In this combination two varieties of word-order are commonly used. (a) The more frequent form till the 17th c. appears to be the two (three, etc.) last (= F. les deux derniers, G. die zwei letzten); the variant seven the last appears in one example. (b) The form the last two (three, etc.) is now the more frequent of the two, exc. where last is equivalent to ‘last-mentioned’; see also 3.
(a) 1382. Wyclif, Rev. xv. 1. Seuen aungels hauinge seuen the laste plages [so 1388, with v.rr. the laste seuene, the seuene laste; later versions the seven last(e].
c. 1450. ME. Med. Bk. (Heinrich), 144. A veyne by twene two laste fyngeres.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 1 b. The two last dayes [perteyneth] to the contemplatyue lyfe.
1710. C. Wheatly, Ch. Eng. Man’s Companion, 51. The two last of these versicles.
a. 1715. Burnet, Own Time (1724), I. 591. Three parliaments had sat. The two last had not mentioned him.
1779–81. Johnson, L. P., Young, Wks. IV. 242. The three last stanzas are not more remarkable for just rhymes.
1818. Hazlitt, Lect. Eng. Poets, iii. Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare, and Milton…. The two last have had justice done them by the voice of common fame.
(b) 1388. [see (a)].
1669. Sturmy, Mariner’s Mag., IV. 205. In the 12th and 13th, or last two Columns of your Journal.
1805. Johnson’s Dict., s.v. Disloyal, The last three [ed. 1755 three latter] senses are now obsolete.
1833. Regul. Instr. Cavalry, I. 98. Place the last three fingers behind the steel.
1898. Daily News, 8 Aug., 6/5. The last two volumes (fifth and sixth) of their new edition of Macaulay’s History.
c. Coupled with least.
a. 1586. Sidney, Arcadia, I. (1633), 14. Among many strange conceits you told me … truely even the last … would not seem the least unto me.
1589. Nashe, Pref. to Greene’s Menaphon (Arb.), 17. For the last, though not the least of them all.
1595. Spenser, Col. Clout, 444. And there, though last, not least, is Aetion.
1599. H. Buttes, Dyets drie Dinner, C iij. Both these, are of last and least request.
1601. Shaks., Jul. C., III. i. 189. Though last, not least in loue.
1852. Dickens, Bleak Ho., lviii. Volumnia … is a prey to horrors of many kinds. Not last nor least among them, possibly, is a horror of what may befall her little income.
† d. ellipt. The last day (of a month). Obs.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 110. The last of June.
1596. Acc. Bk. W. Wray, in Antiquary, XXXII. 119. This laste of octobr.
1630. Wadsworth, Pilgr., vi. 52. He … dyed, Nouember the last, 1623.
1683. Tryon, Way to Health, v. (1697), 86. From the midle of June to the last of October.
e. In spatial sense: Utmost, extreme, remotest (rare). † Also, hindmost, rearmost.
a. 1225. Leg. Kath., 586. Clerkes … of alle clergies ut of Alixandres lond þe alre leste ende [v.rr. laste, leaste].
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. VIII., 239. The kyng rode to the last ende of the ranke where the Speares or Pencyoners stoode.
1549. in Strype, Eccl. Mem., II. App. DD. 104. The L. Gray was fain … to retyre to our last horsemen and footmen.
1871. R. Ellis, trans. Catullus, lxviii. 102. The land’s last verge Holds him.
2. Belonging to the end or final stage, esp. belonging to the end of life or the end of the world. (In some applications only a contextual use of sense 1.) † Last age: the closing years of life, old age. The four last things (Theol.; = L. quatuor novissima): Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell.
c. 1200. Vices & Virtues (1888), 19. Ðes werȝinge nis bute erres of ðare laczste [? = latste or lasste].
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 5. Of ðe lateste to-cume of ure louerd specð þe holie boc on oðer stede.
1382. Wyclif, Wisd. iv. 8. The laste age [1388 eelde, Vulg. senectus] forsothe wrshipeful is not longe durende. Ibid. (1382), 1 Cor. xv. 52. In a moment, in the smytinge of an yȝe, in the laste trumpe.
1440. J. Shirley, Dethe K. James, 29. Translated … bi youre symple subget John Shirley, in his laste age.
1479. Earl Rivers (title), The book named Cordyal which treteth of the four last and final thinges.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 216 b. He confessed his doctryne constantlye even to the laste breathe.
a. 1621. Beaum. & Fl., Thierry & Theod., V. ii. Bear vm vnto their last beds.
1638. R. Baker, trans. Balzac’s Lett. (vol. II.), 59. Having performed to him the last duties.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., IV. 763. With his last Voice, Eurydice, he cry’d.
1709. Pope, Ess. Crit., 403. That sun … Which from the first has shone on ages past, Enlights the present, and shall warm the last.
1781. Cowper, Truth, 564. ’Twas the last trumpet—see the Judge enthroned.
1833. J. H. Newman, Arians, IV. iii. (1876), 326. Hosius … with his last breath, abjured the heresy.
b. † (One’s) last day: the day of one’s death (obs.). The last day: the Day of Judgment, the end of the world. The last days: the concluding period in the life or history of (a person, etc.); also the period including and immediately preceding the Last Judgment. Similarly the last time, times.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 5458. Thinges … þat … suld in last dais bi-tidd. Ibid., 23928. On min aun last dai.
a. 1340. Hampole, Pr. Consc., 1986. Þe last day of man is hyd. Ibid., 2596. Swilk als his last day fyndes a man … Swilk mon he be demed at þe ende.
1388. Wyclif, Isa. ii. 2. And in the laste daies the hil of the hous of the Lord schal be maad redi in the cop of hillis.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 189 b. Before the laste daye of judgement.
1611. Bible, John vi. 39. I should lose nothing, but should raise it vp againe at the last day. Ibid., 1 Pet. i. 5. Ready to be reuealed in the last time [ἐν καιρῷ ἐσχάτῳ]. Ibid., 20. Who … was manifest in these last times [ἐπ᾽ ἐσχάτων τῶν χρόνων] for you.
1613. Purchas, Pilgrimage (1614), 548. Our English first had Trade heere in the last times of Queene Elizabeth.
1651. Hobbes, Leviath., III. xli. 262. The day of Judgment, (which is therefore also called, the last day).
1834. Lytton (title), The Last Days of Pompeii.
1883. R. W. Dixon, Mano, I. iv. 10. Wherefore the last days seem to be begun.
c. Last end: the very end, † the utmost extremity or limit; esp. the end of life, death. (Cf. MHG. das letzte ende; OE. had se ýtemesta ende.) arch. and dial.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. XIV. 133. Allas! þat ricchesse shal reue and robbe mannes soule Fram þe loue of owre lorde at his laste ende!
c. 1425. Wyntoun, Cron., IX. Prol. 31. Off this Tretys the last end Tyl bettyr than I am, I commend.
1450–1530. Myrr. Our Ladye, 260. This I haue writen vpon this antempne for the laste ende semeth darckely spoken.
1611. Cotgr., s.v. Final, Fin finale, the last end of all.
1611. Bible, Num. xxiii. 10. Let mee die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his.
c. 1625. Milton, Death Fair Infant, 77. Till the worlds last-end shall make thy name to live.
1637. Sc. Bk. Com. Prayer, Public Baptism (Rubric), At the last end, the Presbyter … shall say this exhortation following.
1889. N. W. Linc. Gloss., I caame at th’ start, an’ I’ve seed th’ last end on it [a sale]…. She’s been aailin’ a long time, poor thing, bud her last end’s cum’d at last.
3. Occurring or presenting itself next before a point of time expressed or implied in the sentence; the present time, or next before; most recent, latest. † The last age: recent times.
With a cardinal numeral the order is now always the last two (three, etc.).
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. XVIII. 311. And now for thi last lesynge ylore we haue Adam, And al owre lordeship.
1411. Rolls of Parlt., III. 650/1. The last Parlement of oure sayd liege Lord.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. IV., 18. So muche was their courages abated … with the remembraunce of the last conflicte and batail.
1562. Winȝet, Cert. Tractates, i. Wks. 1888, I. 7. Ȝour eldaris in the last aige foresaid.
1598. Shaks., Merry W., IV. ii. 98. To meete him at the doore with it, as they did last time. Ibid. (1610), Temp., V. i. 153. When did you lose your daughter? In this last Tempest.
1660. F. Brooke, trans. Le Blanc’s Trav., 246. For those three or four last Ages.
1669. Marvell, Corr., cxxx. Wks. 1872–5, II. 294. Having writ to you last post saves me the labor of a long letter this.
1678. T. Rymer (title), The Tragedies of the last Age consider’d.
1750. Johnson, Rambler, No. 71, ¶ 11. Among the improvements made by the last centuries in human knowledge.
1797–1805. S. & Ht. Lee, Canterb. T., V. 292. He wore his best Brutus wig, which was curled in the last new taste.
1804. Med. Jrnl., XII. 166. In the last fortnight, a number of subjects … have been submitted to the test.
1843. H. Miller, in J. L. Watson, Life R. S. Candlish, vi. (1882), 78. The events of the last twelve days.
1885. J. Payn, Talk of Town, I. 168. ‘I say, my astute young friend … where have you been to these last three hours?’
Mod. We have been having bad weather these last few weeks.
b. Said esp. of the period, season, etc., occurring next before the time of writing or speaking, as last Wednesday, last Christmas. Last day (now dial.), yesterday; † last morning, yesterday morning; last evening, yesterday evening. Cf. equivalent phrases in B. 2 b.
(Orig. used with a demonstrative, this or the, and still sometimes with the former when a very recent date is indicated; with the names of days and months, the adj. may precede or follow the sb., as last Tuesday or Tuesday last, last January or January last.)
c. 1340. Cursor M., 16122 (Trin.). A siȝt Þat she in hir slepyng say þis ilke laste nyȝt.
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 2785. Two … Þat lost wer nowe þe last day.
1502. Privy Purse Exp. Eliz. of York (1830), 110. Tharrerags of the last yere.
a. 1553. Udall, Royster D., II. i. (Arb.), 33. Loe yond the olde nourse that was wyth vs last day.
1550. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 201 b. Commyng thither the laste yere in Decembre.
1591. Shaks., Two Gent., II. i. 86. Last morning You could not see to wipe my shooes.
1613. Purchas, Pilgrimage (1614), 96. On Bartholmew day last 1613.
1677. E. Smith, in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. V. 37. His Majesty … went on Munday last to Windsor to see his workemen.
1711. Steele, Spect., No. 53, ¶ 4. Yours of Saturday last.
1712. Addison, Spect., No. 305, ¶ 1. In the Daily Courant of last Friday.
1784. Cowper, Tiroc., 834. Their breath a sample of last night’s regale.
1787. Burns, Humble Petit. Bruar Water, iii. Last day I grat wi’ spite and teen, As Poet Burns came by.
1795. Cowper, Pairing Time Anticipated 28. A Finch … With golden wing and satin poll, A last year’s bird.
1816. Byron, Ch. Har., III. xxviii. Last noon beheld them full of lusty life, Last eve in Beauty’s circle proudly gay.
1847. Halliwell, Last-day, yesterday. West.
1872. Raymond, Statist. Mines & Mining, 185. Last fall a Chicago merchant shipped a fair stock of merchandise to Eldorado.
c. With ellipsis of letter. Now chiefly in commercial use.
1638. Wotton, Lett. to Dr. C., in Reliq. (1651), 501. I find in the bowels of your last … much harsh and stiffe matter from Scotland.
c. 1645. Howell, Lett., I. VI. xv. (1650), 202. Your last unto me was in French of the first current.
1749. Fielding, Tom Jones, XVIII. iv. My worthy friend, I informed you in my last.
d. ellipt. (colloq.) (A person’s) latest joke, freak, characteristic action or utterance.
Mod. Have you heard Professor X.’s last?
4. That comes at the end of a series arranged in order of rank or estimation; lowest. Chiefly ellipt.
1382. Wyclif, Mark ix. 34. If any man wole be the first among ȝou, he schal be the laste, and mynystre of alle.
1601. Chester, in Shaks. C. Praise, 43. King Arthur the last of the nine Worthies.
1709. Pope, Ess. Crit., 196. Oh may some spark of your celestial fire, The last, the meanest of your sons inspire.
1774. Goldsm., Nat. Hist. (1776), IV. 183. [The manati] may be indiscriminately called the last of beasts, or the first of fishes.
1781. Cowper, Expost., 242. The last of nations now, though once the first.
1871. R. Ellis, trans. Catullus, xlix. 6. He as easily last among the poets As thou surely the first among the pleaders.
5. Remaining or arrived at after others have disappeared, have been removed, exhausted or spent; the only remaining.
1382. Wyclif, Luke xii. 59. Thou schalt not go thennis, til thou ȝelde also the last ferthing. Ibid. (1388), Amos ix. 1. Y schal sle bi swerd the laste of hem.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 120. Than flye they unto her, as unto the laste ancker. Ibid., 216. They of necessitie doe flee to the laste remedye.
1596. Spenser, State Irel., Wks. (Globe), 682/2. Such an one I could name, upon whom … our last hopes now rest.
1597. Shaks., 2 Hen. IV., IV. ii. 44. Wee readie are to trye our fortunes, To the last man. Ibid. (1613), Hen. VIII., III. ii. 453. Take an Inuentary of all I haue, To the last peny.
1637. Milton, Lycidas, 71. That last infirmity of Noble mind.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., IV. 274. Having spent the last Remains of Light.
1697. Dampier, Voy., I. 20. This night our last Slave run away.
1742. Lady M. W. Montagu, Lett. to Mr. Wortley, 10 June. Being always at his last shirt and last guinea.
1781. Cowper, Hope, 378. Mercy, fled to as the last resort.
a. 1836. O. W. Holmes, Last Leaf, viii. If I should live to be The last leaf upon the tree.
1857. Buckle, Civiliz., I. xii. 686. There can be no doubt that rebellion is the last remedy against tyranny.
b. With the application defined by a relative clause or to with infin. Often with idiomatic force = ‘most unlikely,’ ‘most unwilling,’ ‘most unsuitable.’
a. 1450. Knt. de la Tour (1868), 61. The .ix. foly, and the last, that Eue dede was the grettest.
1513. More, in Grafton, Chron. (1568), II. 757. In the Sommer last that ever he sawe.
1535. Coverdale, 2 Sam. xix. 11. Why wyl ye be the last to fetch the kynge agayne vnto his house?
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. VIII., 243 b. This was the last Monke that was seen in his clothyng in Englande.
1588. Shaks., L. L. L., I. i. 161. I am the last that will last keepe his oath.
1659. B. Harris, Parival’s Iron Age, 138. This was the last favour Fortune did this Darling of hers.
1790. Cowper, Catharina, 9. The last evening ramble we made,—Catharina, Maria, and I.
1832. Ht. Martineau, Life in Wilds, iv. 53. One of the last men we could spare.
1838. Prescott, Ferd. & Is., II. xvi. III. 251. She was the last person to be approached with undue familiarity.
1852. Mrs. Stowe, Uncle Tom’s C., xxx. 279. It’s the last night we may be together.
1861. Gen. P. Thompson, Audi Alt. (ed. 2), III. clxxvii. 213. Bellona is the last of the goddesses to be flirted with.
6. After which there is nothing to be done or said; final, conclusive, definitive. ? Now only in the collocation last word.
1654. Bramhall, Just Vind., vii. (1661), 228. All Christian Nations do challenge this right … to be the last Judges of their own liberties and priviledges. Ibid., viii. 232. The Catholick Church … is the last visible Judg of controversies, and the supream Ecclesiastical Court.
1678. Butler, Hud., III. ii. 1330. Money that like the Sword of Kings, Is the last Reason of all things.
1751. Johnson, Rambler, No. 142, ¶ 8. Whatever shall be the last decision of the law.
1881. S. Colvin, Pref. to Select. Landor’s Writings (1882), p. vi.
| ‘And through the trumpet of a child of Rome | |
| Rang the pure music of the flutes of Greece.’ |
1891. Church, Oxford Movement, x. 167. It [Evangelical theology] regarded the Epistles of St. Paul as the last word of the Gospel message.
† b. Last hand: the final or finishing stroke or touch.
1614. Selden, Titles Hon., Ded. a iij. Some yeer since it was finish’t, wanting, only in some parts, my last hand.
1648–1865. [see HAND sb. 13 b].
1676. Dryden, Dram. Wks. (1725), IV. 81. To recommend it to the King’s perusal, before the last Hand was added to it.
1704. Swift’s T. Tub, To Rdr. Whether the work received his last hand or whether he intended to fill up defective places.
1715–20. Pope, Iliad, XVIII. 702. Thus the broad shield complete the artist crown’d With his last hand.
7. Reaching its ultimate limit; attaining a degree beyond which one cannot go; utmost, extreme. Now chiefly in phr. of the last importance. (Cf. F. dernier.)
a. 1674. Clarendon, Hist. Reb., XIV. § 139. He told the earl that he would impart a secret to him of the last importance.
1693. Dryden, Lucretius, II. 13. Their last endeavours bend To outshine each other.
1705. Stanhope, Paraphr., II. 424. One of the last Affronts, capable of being passed upon any Man.
1711. Light to Blind, in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. V. 110. A Prince, who with the last zeal is desir’d by suffering nations.
1775. Harris, Philos. Arrangem. (1841), 348. Demosthenes, in whom rhetoric attained its last perfection.
1827. Scott, Napoleon, xxxvi. Territory of the last and most important consequence.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., ix. II. 395. Their Church was suffering the last excess of injury and insult.
1875. E. White, Life in Christ, III. xxii. (1878), 325. The citation of these words … in order to support the speculation … seems to the last degree perverse.
1881. Mahaffy, Old Greek Educ., iii. 26. Rowing … was of the last importance in their naval warfare.
ellipt. 1667. Milton, P. L., IX. 1079. Even shame, the last of evils.
1727. Fielding, Love in Sev. Masques, I. v. Well, positively, going into a bookseller’s shop is to me the last of fatigues.
8. Special collocations. Last brood, last spring (see LASPRING), terms denoting a young salmon at a certain stage of growth.
1861. Act 24–5 Vict., c. 109 § 4.
¶ For last cast, l. ditch, l. extremity, l. gasp, l. heir, l. hono(u)r(s, l. legs, l. multiplier, l. name, l. post, l. straw, l. will, see the sbs.
II. absol. (quasi-sb.)
9. In certain absolute uses.
a. With a demonstrative or relative adj.: The last-mentioned person or thing.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 44 b. Which two last were not agreed upon.
1640. Bp. Hall, Chr. Moder. (Ward), 33/2. These two last will teach him to acknowledge and admire other men’s better faculties.
1697. Dampier, Voy., I. 215. With a Fireship and 3 Tenders, which last had not a constant crew.
1796. H. Hunter, trans. St.-Pierre’s Stud. Nat. (1799), I. 418. It … contains, as it ought, the history of the knowledge, and of the errors of his time. These last are sometimes imputed to him very unjustly.
1864. Miss Braddon, H. Dunbar, II. iii. 43. To this last, love is faith.
† b. The last (advb.): at last, finally. Sc. Obs.
c. 1340. Cursor M., 6818 (Trin.). Þe flesshe þat beest bifore haþ tast Ete ȝe not þerof þe last [Cott., Fairf., a last(e].
a. 1578. Lindesay (Pitscottie), Chron. Scot. (S. T. S.), I. 35. [They] maid greit lauboris and trawellis to bring them to peace and concord whill the last they brocht them togither in S. Geillis kirk.
c. The latest or most recent part; conclusion, end. Obs.
1607. Shaks., Temp., I. ii. 107. Sit still, and heare the last of our sea-sorrow.
1669. Sturmy, Mariner’s Mag., I. 18. We will draw to the last with a Man of War in Chase and taking of her Prize.
† d. The last time. Obs. rare.
1601. Shaks., All’s Well, V. iii. 79. The last that ere I tooke her leaue at Court.
e. The last day or last moments (of a life); the end of life, death. Chiefly with a possessive.
1382. Wyclif, Ecclus. xxx. 1. That he glade in his laste [Vulg. ut lætetur in novissimo suo].
1618. Bolton, Florus, IV. vi. (1636), 303. Who would not wonder that those most wise men used not their own hands at their last?
a. 1635. Naunton, Fragm. Reg. (Arb.), 44. The haughtinesse of his spirit, which accompanied him to his last.
1671. Milton, Samson, 1426. The last of me or no I cannot warrant.
1748. Richardson, Clarissa, VII. 418. She regrets to this hour, and declares that she shall to the last of her life, her cruel treatment of that sister.
1817. Byron, Manfred, III. i. 88. When Rome’s sixth Emperor was near his last.
1860. Lever, One of Them, xlvi. As he drew nigh his last his sufferings gave little intervals of rest.
Mod. Towards the last the pain seemed to leave him, and his end was very peaceful.
f. One’s last: the last thing a person does or can do; used esp. with certain verbs, the sb. implied by them being understood, e.g., to breathe one’s last (sc. breath), to look one’s last (sc. look).
1592. Shaks., Rom. & Jul., V. iii. 112. Eyes looke your last. Armes take your last embrace.
1593, 1651, 1714. [see BREATHE v. 10 c].
1597. Shaks., Lover’s Compl., 168. The one a palate hath that needs will taste, Though Reason weep, and cry ‘It is thy last.’ Ibid. (1607), Timon, III. vi. 100. This is Timons last.
a. 1711. Ken, Hymnotheo, Poet. Wks. 1721, III. 68. On his Cross breathing his painful last.
1717. Addison, Ovid’s Met., II. Poems (1790), 118. The swans … now sung their last, and dy’d.
1790. Burns, Tam o’ Shanter, 73. The wind blew as ’twad blawn its last.
1864. Le Fanu, Uncle Silas, II. v. 71. I was looking my last—for who could say how long?—on the old house, and lingered.
† g. The utmost, the extremity. Obs.
1633. T. Stafford, Pac. Hib., II. xxiii. (1810), 433. Hee and all his would rather endure the last of misery, then bee found guilty of so fowle a treason.
h. mod. colloq. The end of one’s dealings with something.
1854. Dickens, Hard T., I. viii. If it was ever to reach your father’s ears I should never hear the last of it.
Mod. colloq. I am glad I’ve seen the last of that dismal creature.
10. In phrases formed with prepositions.
a. At last, at the last (ME. at or a þan laste, atte laste; also alast(e, o least, ALAST adv.; in Ormin att tallre lattste = at the last of all): at the end, in the end, finally, ultimately. In ME. poetry often ‘in fine,’ ‘after all.’
c. 1200. Ormin, 13319. Te Laferrd Jesu Crist Himm seȝȝde att tallre lattste, Nu shallt tu nemmnedd ben Cefas.
c. 1205. Lay., 26785. A þan laste [c. 1275 at þan laste] ne mihte mon wite wha oðerne smite.
a. 1225. Leg. Kath., 41. O least wið stronge tintreohen & licomliche pinen.
c. 1340. Cursor M., 4274 (Trin.). At þe laste hit most be kidde.
1362. Langl., P. Pl., A. II. 110. Hit schal bi-sitten oure soules sore atte laste.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Boeth., II. pr. vi. 54. And at þe laste I may conclude þe same þinge of al þe ȝiftes of fortune. Ibid. (c. 1386), Prol., 707. Trewely to tellen atte laste, He was in chirche a noble ecclesiaste.
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 1007. Be þe floure neuer sa fresche it fadis at þe last.
a. 1450. Knt. de la Tour (1868), 18. Atte the laste she waxe right familier with me.
1535. Coverdale, Ps. lxxxix. 13. Turne the agayne (o Lorde) at the last, and be gracious vnto thy servauntes.
1596. Shaks., Tam. Shr., V. i. 130. Happilie I haue arriued at the last Vnto the wished hauen of my blisse.
1620. Shelton, Quix., II. IV. iv. 46. It is not lost, that comes at last.
1668. Dryden, Even. Love, Prol. 28. But at the last you threw them off with scorn.
1681. Flavel, Meth. Grace, v. 67. Nothing can comfort a man that must to hell at last.
1711. Steele, Spect., No. 2, ¶ 1. His Temper being jovial, he at last got over it.
1819. Shelley, Cenci, I. i. 57. O! before worse comes of it ’Twere wise to die: it ends in that at last.
1821. Keats, Isabella, xxii. And at the last, these men of cruel clay Cut Mercy … to the bone.
1868. Dickens, Uncomm. Trav., xxviii. At last to my great joy, I received notice of his safe arrival.
1886. Ruskin, Præterita, I. 268. Here at last I had found a man who spoke only of what he had seen, and known.
b. At (the) long last: at the end of all; finally, ultimately. [Perh. associated with LAST sb.4] Now rare.
1523. Skelton, Garl. Laurel, 1398. How than lyke a man he wan the barbican With a sawte of solace at the longe last.
1692. R. L’Estrange, Fables, cxcviii. 168. This Woman, I say … was at the Long-Last prevail’d upon to hear the Will read.
1864. Carlyle, Fredk. Gt., IV. 211. At long last, on Sunday.
1870. Lowell, Study Wind., 131. We can find a useful and instructive solace in a hearty abuse of human nature, which at the long last is always to blame.
† c. By the last: at the latest. Obs.
a. 1175. Cott. Hom., 231. He … sette ænne deȝie þat hi alle be þe latst to þa deȝie þer were. Ibid., 235.
c. 1330. Arth. & Merl., 4786 (Kölbing). And that strengþe him last Fort arnemorwe bi þe last.
† d. In the last: in the end, finally. Obs. rare.
1607. Shaks., Cor., V. vi. 42. And in the last, When he had carried Rome, and that we look’d For no lesse Spoile, then Glory.
e. To the last: † (a) to the utmost; (b) up to or until the end, esp. up to the last moment of life, to the point of death; also till the last.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 12015. When the Cité was sesit & serchet to the last.
1602. Shaks., Ham., II. i. 100. He seem’d to finde his way without his eyes, For out adores he went … And to the last, bended their light on me.
1719. De Foe, Crusoe, II. xvi. (1840), 326. He was always the same to the last.
c. 1730. Moribundus, in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.), I. 380. This fate must necessarily attend the honestest who pays to the last.
1780. Cowper, Progr. Err., 107. It … brands him to the last What atheists call him—a designing knave.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., v. I. 665. To the last she preserved a tranquil courage. Ibid. (1855), xii. III. 196. The men who guarded these walls … were determined to resist to the last.
1864. Tennyson, Aylmer’s F., 714. And these had been together from the first; They might have been together till the last.
1878. F. Hall, in Nation (N. Y.), XXVI. 422/1. Almost from his boyhood, and to the very last, his thoughts were well-nigh engrossed by the radical problems of mind and matter.
1885. Manch. Exam., 23 May, 5/4. He refused to the last the religious consolations which the Archbishop of Paris was wishful to offer him.
B. adv.
1. After all others; at the latest time; at the end.
Occas. coupled with least.
c. 888. K. Ælfred, Boeth. (Sedgefield), xxxiv. § 10. Þær þær … hit hraðost weaxan mæʓ & latost wealowian.
c. 975. Rushw. Gosp., Matt. xxii. 27. Þe lætest [Lindisf. ðe lætmesta] þonne ealra & þæt wif ek a-swalt.
1382. Wyclif, 2 Sam. xix. 11. Whi ben ȝe comen last to brynge aȝen the kyng into his hows?
c. 1420. Pallad. on Husb., X. 155. Gith is last eke in this mone ysowe.
c. 1450. ME. Med. Bk. (Heinrich), 145. Geue þe seek to drinke last, when he gos to bedde.
1526. Tindale, Matt. xxii. 27. Laste of all the woman dyed also.
1562. J. Heywood, Prov. & Epigr. (1867), 160. He that cumth last make all fast.
c. 1600. Shaks., Sonn., xc. 9. If thou wilt leave me, do not leave me last. Ibid. (1613), Hen. VIII., III. ii. 444. Love thy selfe last.
1667. Milton, P. L., III. 278. Nor Man the least Though last created.
1715–20. Pope, Iliad, XXIII. 607. Last came Admetus, thy unhappy son.
1808. Scott, Marm., I. viii. Last, twenty yeomen two and two.
2. On the occasion next before the present; in the last instance; most lately; latest.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 3989. Vte-ouer þis flum, last quen i ferd.
c. 1300. Havelok, 678. Þanne i last[e] spak with þe.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 307. Those seuen wordes … whiche thou spake last before thy moost precyous deth.
1591. Shaks., Two Gent., II. i. 12. I was last chidden for being too slow.
1613. Purchas, Pilgrimage (1614), 632. Since I last published these Relations, certaine Letters have beene printed.
1719. De Foe, Crusoe, II. xiii. (1840), 280. He came last from Astracan.
1818. Cruise, Digest (ed. 2), III. 408. The paternal grandmother of the person last seised.
1819. Shelley, Cenci, V. ii. 22. When did you see him last? Ibid. (1822), Hellas, 209. The robes they last On Death’s bare ribs had cast.
† b. Last past, also Sc. last by past, last was: (with dates) = LAST a. 3 b; also (of a period of time) extending to the present, (the) past (year, etc.). Obs.
1411. Rolls of Parlt., III. 650/1. The Saterday neghst after the fest of Seint Michael last passed.
1461. Paston Lett., No. 368, I. 543. The Bysshop of Norwich sente us on Thrusday laste paste to gader the dymes.
1484. Caxton, Fables of Æsop, IV. xvii. What hast thow done al the somer last passed.
1549. Latimer, 1st Serm. bef. Edw. VI. (Arb.), 19. Sermons … preached in Lente last past.
a. 1557. Diurn. Occurr. (Bannatyne), 123. Vpoun the xxv day of August last by past.
1559. Kennedy, Lett., in Wodr. Soc. Misc. (1844), 266. The day … (quhilk wes Sounday last wes).
1711. Steele, Spect., No. 48, ¶ 2. The Beau has varied his Dress every Day of his Life for these thirty Years last past. Ibid., No. 53, ¶ 7. I am a Gentleman who for many Years last past have been well known to be truly Splenetick.
3. As the last thing to be mentioned or considered; in the last place, lastly.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 114 b. Belmen are hyred … to declare the name … also wher and whan they shal be buried, and last to exhorte the people to praye for the dead.
1597. Shaks., 2 Hen. IV., V. v. Epil. First, my Feare: then, my Curtsie: last, my Speech. Ibid. (1613), Hen. VIII., III. ii. 403. Last, that the Lady Anne, Whom the King hath in secrecie long married, This day was view’d in open.
1819. Shelley, Cenci, III. i. 354. You may Conceive such half conjectures as I do, From her fixed paleness, and the lofty grief Of her stern brow … and last From this.
1851. Kingsley, Yeast, xvii. Last, but not least, is it not the very property of man that he is a spirit invested with flesh and blood?
4. In the end, finally.
1667. Milton, P. L., VI. 797. By force or fraud Weening to prosper, and at length prevaile Against God and Messiah, or to fall in universal ruin last. Ibid., XI. 542. In thy blood will reigne A melancholly damp of cold and dry To waigh thy spirits down, and last consume The Balme of Life.
a. 1700. Dryden, Ovid’s Met., X. Pygmal., 12. Pleas’d with his Idol, he commends, admires, Adores; and last, the Thing ador’d, desires.
1859. Tennyson, Enid, 42. The King Mused for a little on his plea, but, last, Allowing it, the prince and Enid rode … to the shores of Severn.
1871. R. Ellis, trans. Catullus, lxiv. 239. So for a while that charge did Theseus faithfully cherish. Last, it melted away.
C. Combinations.
1. Chiefly of the adv. with ppl. adjs., as last-born, -cited, -erected, -made, -mentioned, -named.
1868. Milman, St. Paul’s, 230. And, *last-born, Christian tolerance and charity.
1659. Pearson, Creed (1859), 164. If then we consider the two *last-cited verses by themselves.
1863. H. Cox, Instit., I. viii. 129. The last cited statute.
1807. Vancouver, Agric. Devon (1813), 97. In the *last-erected cottages, I … have made a double roof.
1626. Jackson, Creed, VIII. I. v. § 1. The new and *last-made visible creature man.
1863. Lyell, Antiq. Man, 25. This *last-mentioned race.
1838. Dickens, O. Twist, xlii. The *last-named apartment.
1869. Dunkin, Midn. Sky, 59. The last-named being near the horizon.
2. occas. of the adj. qualifying a sb., the whole being used attrib., as last-century, last-time.
1876. Geo. Eliot, Dan. Der., II. xx. 12. Last-century children.
1894. W. C. Simpson, in Mem. (1899), 132. The votes are to be given to the most pressing last-time case.
