Forms: 1 lǽfan, 2–3 læven, lefen, lefven, leven, 3 leafen, leave(n, 4–5 leef, leeve, -yn, leff(e, leif(e, lev, leyf(f, -fe, -ve, (lyve), 4–6 lef(e, leve(n, lewe, leif(f, 6 (leavy) Sc. laif, live, 7 leaf, leav, 8–9 Sc. (colloq.) lea’, 5– leave. Pa. t. 1 lǽfde, 2–3 læfde, l(e)afde, læv-, lefede, 3–5 leved(e, 4–5 lefid, -it, lef(f)yt, Sc. lewid, -it, -yt, 4–6 lafde, laf(f)t(e, lefte, (5 leeft, lefft, levit, leyfft), Sc. leifit, 6 leaft, 4– left. Pa. pple. 1 lǽfed, 3 leaved, 4 le(v)ed, -id, -it, leift, leyved; also 4 leven, 5 leve, 4–5 laf(f)te, -yn, 4–6 lefte, Sc. lev-, lewyt, 6 leaft, 4– left. See also Y-LEVE. [OE. lǽfan trans. and intr., corresp. to OFris. lêva to leave, OS. -lêƀian in farlêƀid pa. pple., left over), OHG., MHG. leiben, ON. leifa to leave, Goth. -laibjan (in bilaibjan to leave behind):—OTeut. *laiƀjan, f. *laiƀâ remainder, relic (see LAVE sb.), whence also the intr. vbs. OS. lêƀôn, OHG. leibên to remain. The OTeut. *laiƀjan is the causative of *lîƀan str. vb., represented by the compounds OE. belîfan (see BELIEVE v.), OFris. belîva, blîva, MDu. blîven (Du. blijven), OHG. belîban (MHG. belîben, blîben, mod.G. bleiben), to remain.
The root (OTeut. *lĭƀ, *laiƀ-:—OAryan *lip-, *leip-, *loip-) has in Teut. only the sense ‘to remain, continue’ (so in LIFE, LIVE v.), which appears also in Gr. λῑπαρής persevering, importunate. This sense is usually regarded as a development from a primary sense ‘to adhere, be sticky,’ exemplified in Lith. lìpti, OSl. līpĕti to adhere, lĕpiti to stick, Gr. λίπος grease, Skr. rip-, lip- to smear, adhere to.
The view of some scholars, that the Teut. words may belong to the Aryan root *leiq- to leave (whence Gr. λείπειν, L. linquĕre), is plausible with regard to the sense, but the tendency of recent research is unfavorable to the admission of its formal possibility.]
I. To have a remainder; to cause or allow to remain.
1. trans. Of a deceased person: To have remaining after one (a widow, children, property, reputation, etc.).
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., Mark xii. 22. And ealle seofon hi hæfdon & sæd ne læfdon.
1382. Wyclif, Ruth i. 3. The housboond of Noemie, is deed, and she lafte with the sones.
c. 1400. Apol. Loll., 4. Better to die wiþ out barnes, þan to lef vnpitouse barnis aftir.
1604. E. G[rimstone], D’Acosta’s Hist. Indies, VI. xii. 455. For the entertainment of the family he left.
1818. Cruise, Digest (ed. 2), VI. 512. In case he should … leave no lawful heir.
1838. Thirlwall, Greece, V. 165. He left an infant son named Amyntas.
1881. Gardiner & Mullinger, Study Eng. Hist., I. vi. 103. The medieval saints … had left no successors.
1891. Law Reports, Weekly Notes 201/1. He intended that whatever property he left should be divided.
b. Of things or conditions: To have remaining as a trace or consequence after removal or cessation.
1756. C. Lucas, Ess. Waters, III. 296. Most chalybeate waters leave no common vitriol upon evaporation.
1814. Wordsw., Excursion, VII. 27. It had left, Deposited upon the silent shore Of memory, images and precious thoughts.
1823. F. Clissold, Ascent Mt. Blanc, 24. This area is so detached from the rock, as to leave a crevasse running along its base.
1885. Sir J. Hannen, in Law Reports, 10 P. D. 87. A small blister, which subsided in a day or two leaving only a redness of the skin.
2. To transmit at one’s death to heirs or successors. Hence, to direct that (something which one possesses) shall descend after one’s death to a specified person, corporation, etc.; to bequeath or devise. Also in indirect passive.
Beowulf, 1179 (Gr.). Þinum maʓum læf folc ond rice.
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., John xiv. 27. Ic læfe eow sibbe.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 24235. Sin i sal to mi fader fare, I sal þe leue a fere.
1484. Caxton, Fables of Alfonce, iii. A good man labourer wente fro lyf to deth [and] lefte nothyng to his sone but only a hows.
1508. Dunbar, Poems, vi. 36. Corpus meum ebriosum, I leif on to the toune of Air.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 27. Than we made our last wyll and testament, whan we lefte to the worlde our kynne and frendes.
1559. W. Cunningham, Cosmogr. Glasse, 3. We should have left many more errours to our posteritie.
1580. Sidney, Ps. XVII. xi. They in riches floorish doe, And children have to leave it to.
1651. Hobbes, Leviath., II. xxviii. 162. It was not given, but left to him, and to him onely.
1676. Lady Chaworth, in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. V. 29. Poore cosin Brooks hath left me 10l.
1713. Addison, Guardian, No. 97, ¶ 1. I was left a thousand pounds by an uncle.
1732. Berkeley, Alciphr., I. § 1. A good collection, chiefly of old books, left him by a clergyman his uncle.
1844. Dickens, Mart. Chuz., xliv. If I knew how you meant to leave your money.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., vi. II. 127. The seventeenth century has, in that unhappy country, left to the nineteenth a fatal heritage of malignant passions.
1876. Mozley, Univ. Serm., iv. (1877), 87. Suppose him suddenly to be left an enormous fortune.
1895. Bookman, Oct., 23/1. The great engravers of the age of Louis have left us innumerable portraits.
absol. 1837. Syd. Smith, Lett. to Singleton, Wks. 1859, I. 289/2 Men of Lincoln have left to Lincoln Cathedral, and men of Hereford, to Hereford.
b. In passive: To be (well, etc.) left: to be (well, etc.) provided for by legacy or inheritance.
1605. Dekker, Sev. Sinnes, V. (Arb.), 36. Richmens sonnes that were left well.
1875. Jas. Grant, One of the ‘600,’ ii. 21. Cora shall be well and handsomely left.
3. To allow to remain in the same place or condition; to abstain from taking, consuming, removing, or dealing with in some particular manner. To be left: to remain.
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., Luke xix. 44. Hiʓ ne læfað on þe stan ofer stane.
c. 1205. Lay., 994. Al heora god we sculen nimen, & lutel hem læuen.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 70. Muche fol he were … ȝif he grunde þe greot & lefde þene hwete.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 4983. Þe yongeist … þai lefte at þeir fader in. Ibid., 5401. Es vs noght leued bot erth bar.
a. 1340. Hampole, Pr. Consc., 100. Wharfor that man may be halden wode, That cheses the ille and leves the gude.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, I. 247. Fre liking to leyve, or do That at hys hart hym drawis to.
1382. Wyclif, Num. ix. 12. Thei shulen not leeue of it eny thing vnto the morwe.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. VI., 129. It was not the poynt of a wiseman, to leave and let passe, the certain for the uncertain.
1576. Fleming, Panopl. Epist., 67. For, what place is left now for honestie? where lodgeth goodnes?
1693. Evelyn, De la Quint. Compl. Gard., Dict., To Head a Tree, is to cut of the Head or Top, leaving only the bare Stem without any Top Branches.
1697. Dampier, Voy., I. 315. The Trunk … they leave in the Sun 2 or 3 days.
1709. Steele, Tatler, No. 139, ¶ 1. Business and Ambition take up Men’s Thoughts too much to leave Room for Philosophy.
1822. Lamb, Elia, Ser. I. Distant Correspondents. If you do not make haste to return, there will be little left to greet you, of me, or mine.
1845. Budd, Dis. Liver, 264. Persons who … have … very little liver left.
1898. N. & Q., 15 Oct., 301/2. The six [criminals] … were however ‘left for death’ as the phrase then went.
† b. absol., esp. in the sense ‘not to consume the whole of one’s portion of food, etc.’; also with over.
1603. Knolles, Hist. Turks, 893. He … made himselfe able at his own choice and pleasure to leave or take.
1611. Bible, Ruth ii. 14. She did eate, and was sufficed, and left [1551 Coverdale, left over].
1642. Fuller, Holy & Prof. St., IV. xiv. 310. A worthy work (wherein the Reader may rather leave then lack).
c. To have as a remainder (in the operation of subtraction). Of a number or quantity: To yield (so much) as a remainder when deducted from some larger amount.
c. 1425. Crafte of Nombrynge (E.E.T.S.), 18. Medie 8. ben þou scbalt leue 4.
1709. J. Ward, Introd. Math., II. ii. § 2 (1734), 150. a–b Taken from a+b Leaves + 2 b for the Remainder.
1896. A. E. Housman, Shropshire Lad, ii. And take from seventy springs a score, It only leaves me fifty more.
d. With complementary sb., adj. or phrase: To allow to remain in a specified condition; not to change from being so-and-so. Often with a negative ppl. a., to leave undone, unsaid etc. = to abstain from doing, saying, etc. Also, with mixture of sense 7 b: To put into, or allow to remain in, a certain condition on one’s departure.
c. 1205. Lay., 1508. Nulleð heo leaue [1275 lefuen] nenne of ous a-liue.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 11228. The sonne goth thorogh glas And levith yt hole as it was.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, IX. 453. He levit nocht about that toune Tour standand, stane no wall.
1526. Tindale, Matt. xxiii. 23. For ye tythe mynt annys and commen and leave the waygthtyer mattres of the lawe ondone.
1552. Bk. Com. Prayer, Gen. Conf., We haue left vndone those things which we oughte to haue done.
1576. Fleming, Panopl. Epist., 301. Then did you leave us sticking in the myre.
1591. Spenser, Muiopotmos, 155. Ne did he leave the mountaines bare unseene, Nor the ranke grassie fennes delights untride.
1613. Purchas, Pilgrimage (1614), 192. The Jewish … Wise-men, have left no part of life unprovided of their superstitious care.
1794. Paley, Evid. (1825), II. 101. To leave the argument without proofs, is to leave it without effect.
1803. Mary Charlton, Wife & Mistress, II. 62. Dolly had left the dressing-room door half open.
1809–10. Coleridge, Sailor’s Fortune, iii. Being now on that part of his life which I am obliged to leave almost a blank.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., iii. I. 297. An important military resource which must not be left unnoticed.
1888. Law Times, LXXXV. 132/2. If the timber adds beauty or shelter to the mansion-house, the tenant for life must leave it intact.
4. † a. To neglect or omit to perform (some action, duty, etc.); = To leave undone (see 3 d); also with inf. to omit to do something. Obs.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 3144. He left noght do his lauerd wil.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Sel. Wks., III. 348. Y leeve to speke of stelyng of wymmen. Ibid., Wks. (1880), 328. Siþ þat crisi myȝt not faile in ordynaunce to his chirche, & he left þis confessioun, it semeþ þat it is not nedeful. Ibid., 410. Þey leeuen þat crist biddiþ.
c. 1489. Caxton, Blanchardyn, xxiv. 81. He sholde not leue to bringe her his two doughters.
1502. Ord. Crysten Men (W. de W., 1506), Prol. 6. Good werkes that a man leueth to do ayenst the mercy of god.
1538. Starkey, England, I. i. 24. Yf wyse men … wold have bent themselfe to that purpose leuyng such fon respecte of tyme and place.
1557. North, trans. Gueuara’s Diall Pr. (1619), 6/2. They … living in flesh, did leave to use the workes … of the flesh.
1558–68. Warde, trans. Alexis’ Secr., 24 b. Not leaving to dooe their businesse abrode notwithstanding.
1597. A. M., trans. Guillemeau’s Fr. Chirurg., 6/1. Yet must not we leave to effecte that which this arte requireth.
1624. Quarles, Sion’s Elegies, iii. 14. Thou leav’st what thy Creator did Will thee to doe.
absol. c. 1374. Chaucer, Troylus, V. 1518. Weep if thou wolt, or leef.
c. 1375. Lay Folks Mass Bk. (MS. B.), 243. Offer or leeue, wheþer þe lyst.
1486. Bk. St. Albans, C v. That an hauke use hir craft all the seson to flye or lefe.
b. To allow to stand over, to postpone (an action, a subject of consideration).
1559. W. Cunningham, Cosmogr. Glasse, 115. I will leave his composition untill I shewe you the making of it among other instrumentes.
1628. Earle, Microcosm., Young-man (Arb.), 51. Hee leaues repentance for gray hayres.
5. To abstain from appropriating, dealing with, or doing (something) so that another person or agent may be able to do so without interference; to suffer to be controlled, done or decided by another instead of oneself; to commit, refer. Const. to or dat.; also with.
c. 1300. Harrow. Hell, 104. Heovene ant erthe tac to the—Soules in helle lef thou me.
1486. Bk. St. Albans, E iij b. All that bere skyne and talow and Rounge leue me.
1559. W. Cunningham, Cosmogr. Glasse, 143. I … wil leave it to such as are Pilotes.
1561. Daus, trans. Bullinger on Apoc. (1573), 93 b. For despisyng of the simple truth, men be left vp to lying deceauers.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., I. vii. 9. This man forlorne And left to loss.
1638. Sir T. Herbert, Trav., 127. I … leave such theories to those that study Meteors.
1660. F. Brooke, trans. Le Blanc’s Trav., 277. The flood retiring within its bounds, leaves their dwellings to their possession again.
1670. A. Roberts, Adventures T. S., 180. When we had our Dispatches, we left him to his own Fortune.
1726. G. Roberts, Four Years Voy., 302. I told him, I would leave all that to his Management.
1771. Junius Lett., liv. 283. I will leave him to his suspicions.
1796. Burke, Regic. Peace, i. (C. P. S.), 73. Nothing in the Revolution … was left to accident.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., ii. I. 257. The rage of the hostile factions would have been sufficiently violent, if it had been left to itself.
1890. Ld. Esher, in Law Times Rep., LXIII. 692/1. This case ought not to have been left to the jury.
1897. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., III. 876. The prospect of success by operation is so slight that … it is better to leave the case to nature.
b. With obj. and infinitive: To allow (a person or thing) to do something, to be done or dealt with, without interference.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 5 b. Leauynge them and suffrynge them to be without meate and drynke a certeyn season.
1662. J. Davies, trans. Olearius’ Voy. Ambass., 107. The Great Duke never signs expeditions, but leaves that to be done by the Secretaries of State.
1665. Hooke, Microgr., 85. And what I have therein perform’d, I leave the Judicious Reader to determine.
1670. A. Roberts, Adventures T. S., 152. They always left them to enjoy their own without disturbing them.
1719. Waterland, Vind. Christ’s Div., v. (1720), 81. In the Interim I may fairly leave you to consider it.
1818. Cruise, Digest (ed. 2), II. 233. To leave the title of the inheritance to go one way, and the trust of the term another way.
1818. Cobbett, Pol. Reg., XXXIII. 116. He left him to shift for himself.
1828. Scott, F. M. Perth, xxxv. The Earl rode off … leaving Albany to tell his tale as he best could.
1881. Gardiner & Mullinger, Study Eng. Hist., I. ix. 165. The future was to be left to take care of itself.
1895. Law Times Rep., LXXIII. 22/1. The court … left the parties to take their own course.
c. To leave (something, much, etc.) to be desired: to be (more or less) imperfect or unsatisfactory.
Common in journalistic use; suggested by the F. laisser à désirer, which is sometimes, though faultily, imitated in its ellipsis of the obj.
6. To deposit or give in charge (some object) or station (persons) to remain after one’s departure; to give (instructions, orders, information, e.g., one’s name or address) for use during one’s absence. Phrase, to leave a card on (a person).
c. 1350. Will. Palerne, 1858. His bag wiþ his bilfodur wiþ þe best he lafte.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Serm., Sel. Wks. I. 17. Leeve þi offring, at þe auter.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. VIII., 104 b. He left another nombre and left capitaines to overse them.
1655. Stanley, Hist. Philos., I. (1701), 30/1. He … left order with his friends that they should carry his bones to Salamis.
1704. De Foe, in 15th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. IV. 83. The letter has not reached your hands, though left with your porter last Friday night.
c. 1709. Prior, Protogenes & Apelles, 50. Will you please To leave your name?
1797. Mrs. A. M. Bennett, Beggar Girl (1813), IV. 63. He wanted to leave his address, and she flounced away, and would not take it.
1813. Col. Hawker, Diary (1893), I. 65. I left word that if I won the cheese I would give it to the old man again.
1860. Tyndall, Glac., I. xvi. 117. Until we reached the point where we had left our wine in the morning.
1861. Dickens, Gt. Expect., xxxvii. He left word that he would soon be home.
1883. Ld. R. Gower, My Remin., II. xxvi. 160. A contradictious old man … had been left in charge of a boat which he had moored to the pier.
absol. a. 1715. Burnet, Own Time (1724), I. 382. As she drew near a village she often ordered her coach to stay behind till she had walked about it, giving orders for the instruction of the children and leaving liberally for that end.
II. To depart from, quit, relinquish.
7. To go away from, quit (a place, person or thing); to deviate from (a line of road, etc.).
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 130. Treowe ancren beoð briddes bitocned: von heo leaueð be eorðe.
c. 1300. Cursor M., 17288 + 296. ‘Leues þis,’ he saide, ‘& telles fast mi brether … þat [etc.].’
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 7549. Þen fled all in fere, & the fild leuit. Ibid., 9498. The Troiens lighten doun lyuely, lefton thair horses.
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 339. With þat rysis vp þe renke & his rowme lefys.
1535. Coverdale, Prov. ii. 13. From soch as leaue the hye strete and walke in ye wayes of darcknesse.
a. 1557. Diurn. Occurr. (Bannatyne Club), 11. Quha causit the said erle leif the toun.
1584. Powel, Lloyd’s Cambria, 269. Rees leaft the castele with his wife and children.
1660. F. Brooke, trans. Le Blanc’s Trav., 18. At two leagues from Outer we left the most part of our company.
1676. Lady Chaworth, in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. V. 29. The Duke and his family left Whitehall for St. James’s yesterday.
1724. De Foe, Mem. Cavalier (1840), 33. I left Italy in April.
1788. Burns, Wks., II. 200. I maun lea’e my bonnie Mary.
1795. Gentl. Mag., 543/2. Whether the antient road to the passage over the Severn left the road to Chepstow at Crick or St. Pere.
1799. Med. Jrnl., II. 139. A hoarseness came on the eleventh day, and did not leave him till the eighteenth.
1819. Byron, Juan, I. clxiii. Pray, sir, leave the room.
1825. J. Nicholson, Operat. Mechanic, 129. If a straight line be applied to the face of the bar from the whip to the end, the face of the bar should leave the straight line about the breadth of the bar.
1837. Dickens, Pickw., ii. I think we shall leave here the day after to-morrow.
1865. Tylor, Early Hist. Man., i. 7. They think that in sleep the soul sometimes remains in the body, and sometimes leaves it, and travels far away.
1884. W. C. Smith, Kildrostan, 50. I thought you never left your books except To trim the boat, and set the lines.
1887. M. Mackenzie, Dis. Throat & Nose, II. 174. He could feel it [the gas] leave the stomach.
1891. E. Peacock, N. Brendon, I. 162. He left the table as he spoke.
absol. (colloq.) 1791. Bentham, Lett., 12 May, Wks. 1843, X. 254. So says Lord L., who himself leaves on the 1st.
1866. Thirlwall, Lett., II. 70. I do not leave for town until to-morrow.
1867. R. S. Candlish, in Jean L. Watson, Life, xiii. (1882), 144. We left about eleven, with two horses.
b. With complementary adj. or phrase, indicating the place or condition of the object quitted.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 162. He … wende one uppon hulles, us to uorbisne, þet we schullen … climben mid him on hulles: þet is, þenchen heie, & leauen lowe under us alle eorðliche þouhtes.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 5177. Ioseph hale and sond left wee.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. II. 67. Thus left me that lady Liggyng aslepe.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. VIII., 258 b. They … left the toune as they founde yt.
1559. Scot, in Strype, Ann. Ref., I. App. x. 27. The inward [thinges] it dothe … so shake, that it leavithe them very … feble.
1699. Dampier, Voy., II. I. 165. And when the Tide goes out, it leaves the Oaz dry a quarter of a mile from the shore.
a. 1708. Beveridge, Thes. Theol. (1710), I. 330. As death leaves you, judgment will find you.
1813. Sketches Charac. (ed. 2), I. 170. I left her very well, a few hours ago.
1883. R. W. Dixon, Mano, II. iv. 78. Him there they overwhelmed, and left him dead.
c. To pass (an object) so, that it ‘bears’ so and so to one’s course.
1662. J. Davies, trans. Olearius’ Voy. Ambass., 264. As you come into the City, you leave on the right hand two very high … Mountains.
1719. De Foe, Crusoe, I. iii. (1840), 47. We … steered…, leaving those isles on the east.
d. colloq. (orig. U.S.) To get (or be) left: to be left in the lurch.
1891. New York Weekly Witness, 11 Nov., 4/4. The man that does not sympathize with the Prohibition movement is afraid of being left.
1894. G. Moore, Esther Waters, xii. 84. While our quarrel was going on Miss Peggy went after him, and that’s how I got left.
8. To go away from permanently; to remove from, cease to reside at (a place), to cease to belong to (a society, etc.); to forsake the company, quit the service of (a person).
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 102. Nim þerto, & lef me hwon þe so is leouere.
c. 1300. Beket, 884. Meni of Seint Thomas Men Levede him for eye.
c. 1340. Cursor M., 13033 (Trin.). Herodias … drad to leue heroudes kyng.
1362. Langl., P. Pl., A. I. 101. Never leue hem for loue Ne for lacchyng of syluer.
c. 1420. Anturs of Arth., 176 (Thornton MS.). Thane wille thay leue the lyghtely þat nowe wil the lowte.
1535. Coverdale, Gen. li. 24. For this cause shal a man leaue father and mother.
1651. in Fuller’s Abel Rediv., Gerardus (1867), II. 264. Leaving of the university, he travelled through most parts of France.
1700. Congreve, Way of World, II. i. ’Tis better to be left, than never to have been loved.
1720. Ozell, Vertot’s Rom. Rep., I. v. 297. The Soldiers … thought they cou’d not leave their Ensigns … without offending the Gods.
1845. Ld. Houghton, in T. W. Reid, Life (1891), I. viii. 358. My servant Frederick has just left me to set up for himself in a public-house.
absol. a. 1549. Laneham’s Let. (1871), Pref. 151. Thoch uthers luif, and leif, with all.
1882. Jean L. Watson, Life R. S. Candlish, vii. 87. When he left, it was with no prospect of temporal good things, but with a firm trust in God.
† b. To part with, lose (one’s breath, life). Obs.
a. 1300. Fragm. Pop. Sci. (Wright), 386. That other [soule deieth] whan he leveth his breth.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 8049. I hade leuer my lyf leue in this place, Than [etc.].
c. 1450. Lonelich, Grail, lvi. 14. Mordreins qwene there left hire lyf.
1570–6. Lambarde, Peramb. Kent (1826), 216. Sexburga left hir life at the doore of Mylton church.
1635. Pagitt, Christianogr., I. ii. (1636), 81. They had rather leave their lives, then their Religion.
9. To abandon, forsake (a habit, practice, etc.), to lay aside (a dress). Now rare or Obs., exc. in to leave off: see 14 c (a).
a. 1225. Leg. Kath., 1340. We leaueð þi lahe and al þine bileaue.
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 98. Mald þe gode quene gaf him in conseile, To … leue alle his tirpeile.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Sel. Wks., III. 350. He shulde be holde apostata þat lefte his abite for a day.
c. 1380. Sir Ferumb., 357. ‘Lef,’ saide he, ‘þy grete foleye.’
c. 1449. Pecock, Repr., I. xx. 123. But if thee wolen leue her vnwijs and proud folie.
1478. Liber Niger, in Pegge, Cur. Misc. (1782), 78. Their Clothing is not according for the King’s Knights, therefore it was left.
1484. Caxton, Fables of Æsop, I. v. For the loue of a vayn thynge men ought not to leue that whiche is certeyn.
c. 1525. Tale Basyn, 218, in Hazl., E. P. P., III. 53. Then thai leuyd thair lewtnesse, and did no more soo.
1558. Bp. Watson, Sev. Sacram., xviii. 112. The confession of a faulte is a profession to leaue the same.
1577. Harrison, England, II. vi. (1877), I. 163. This fondnesse is not yet left with us.
1660. F. Brooke, trans. Le Blanc’s Trav., 8. He was … resolved to leave Turkisme, and become a Christian again.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., IV. 647. Proteus, leave Thy fraudful Arts.
1740. Johnson, Lives, Barretier, Wks. IV. 471. Eighteen months, during which he … neither neglected his studies nor left his gaiety.
1871. R. Ellis, trans. Catullus, lxxvi. 13. What? it is hard long love so lightly to leave in a moment?
10. To cease, desist from, stop. With obj. a sb. or gerund; also inf. with to. Now only arch.; = leave off (see 14 c (a).)
c. 1340. Cursor M., 1131 (Trin.). His blood … leueþ not wreche to crye.
c. 1350. Will. Palerne, 1806. Soburli seide meliors ‘sire leues youre wordes.’
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XVII. xxxvi. (1495), 624. Whan the leuys of Carduus dryen the pryckes leuen to prycke and stynge.
c. 1420. Chron. Vilod., 4235. Herre song þey laftone & songon nomore.
1477. Earl Rivers (Caxton), Dictes, 67. Leuyng to do alle thing that may cause hattered.
1490. Caxton, Eneydos, xxxii. 121. Now shalle I leue to speke of this mater.
1513. Life Bridget, in Myrr. our Ladye (1873), p. lix. But thou leue sayde he to speke of thys newe heresye I [etc.].
a. 1533. Ld. Berners, Huon, lxxxii. 254. Lady, I desyre you to leue your sorow.
1545. Ascham, Toxoph. (Arb.), 164. If a man woulde leaue to looke at his shafte … he may vse this waye.
1556. Chron. Gr. Friars (Camden), 20. Thys yere the mayer lefte rydynge to Westmyster, and went be watter.
1576. Gascoigne, Steel Gl. (Arb.), 79. When Cutlers leaue to sel olde rustie blades.
1602. 2nd Pt. Return fr. Parnass., III. iv. 1401. Leaue trussing your pointes, and listen.
1603. B. Jonson, Jas. I’s Entertainm. Coronation. Zeal when it rests, Leaues to be Zeal.
a. 1626. Bacon, New Atl. (1900), 20. And specially, farre Voyages … were altogether left and omitted.
1686. W. de Britaine, Hum. Prud., ix. 42. Never purchase Friends by Gifts, for if you leave to give, they will leave to love.
1690. Locke, Toleration, ii. Wks. 1727, II. 265. It was designed only to make them leave Swearing.
1722. De Foe, Col. Jack (1840), 243. The English left chasing us.
1762. Goldsm., Cit. W., lxxx. Whenever one crime was judged, penal by the state, he left committing it.
1821. Clare, Vill. Minstr., I. 156. The cat at her presence left watching the mouse.
1871. R. Ellis, trans. Catullus, xxxvi. 5. If ever I … Ceased from enmity, left to launch iambics.
† b. intr. To cease, desist, stop. Obs.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 6036 (Cott.). He praid, þe weder it lefte þan son. Ibid. (c. 1340), 4108 (Trin.). Til he hem fonde lafte he nouȝt.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, VI. 157. Quha vist euir men sa fouly fall As vs, gif that we thusgat leif?
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 10084. Þan leuit the laike for late of þe night.
1483. Caxton, G. de la Tour, B v b. He … bad her ones or twyes that she shold be stylle and leue.
1523. Ld. Berners, Froiss., I. cxcviii. 234. The companyons … hadde lerned so well to robbe and pyll the countrey … that they coude nat leaue.
1589. Puttenham, Eng. Poesie, III. xxii. (Arb.), 265. If he had left at the two first verses, it had bene inough.
1594. Marlowe & Nashe, Dido, II. i. C 2. I dye with melting ruth; Æneas leaue.
1633. Bp. Hall, Hard Texts, 298. It shall devoure both your tall cedars and your low shrubs; and shall not leave till the very bryars and thornes bee consumed.
† 11. trans. In the course of narration: To drop, cease speaking of. Obs.
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 235. We salle leue þat pas vnto we com ageyn.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 1. The seconde boke leueth ye lyfe of ye worlde and entreateth what is the iourney of religion.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. VI., 135 b. Now leavyng Scotland, let us returne to the busines of Fraunce.
1604. E. G[rimstone], D’Acosta’s Hist. Indies, III. xv. 169. But now that we have left the sea, let vs come to other kinde of waters that remaine to be spoken of.
† b. intr. To cease, stop, break off in a narrative. Const. of. Obs.
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. Wace (Rolls), 60. Þis Mayster Wace þer leues he.
c. 1350. Will. Palerne, 1836. Leef we now here.
c. 1435. Torr. Portugal, 587. Leve we now of Torrent there.
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, IX. i. heading, Here leue we of Sire Lamorak and of sir Tristram.
1592. Shaks., Ven. & Ad., 715. Where did I leaue?
1614. Raleigh, Hist. World, II. v. § 7. 180. Let us return thither where we left.
† III. 12. intr. To remain; to remain behind, over; to continue or stay in one place. Obs.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Hom., II. 40. Gif ðær hwæt læfde.
c. 1230. Hali Meid., 15. Hit ne wundeð þe nawt bute hit festni oþe & leaue se longe þat [etc.].
c. 1275. Lay., 22305. And wose leafde his leome he solde leose.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 7269. He left at ham for eild.
1357. Lay Folks Mass Bk., App. II. 120. There levyth in the auter no materyal bred.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, II. 282. Hym thocht he had doyne rycht nocht Ay quhill to do hym levyt ocht.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., IX. iv. (1495), 349. In that yere comyth vp a Lunacion a mone of thyrty dayes and thre dayes leuyth ouer.
1425. Rolls of Parlt., IV. 276/1. All the said Merchandises … that leven unsold … shall be forfaited.
c. 1425. Craft of Nombrynge (E.E.T.S.), 9. Whan þou has þus ydo … sett þere þat leues of þe subtraccioun.
c. 1450. Holland, Howlat, 948. Thar levit allane The Howlat and I.
1460–70. Bk. Quintessence, 5. Þat þat leeueþ bihynde, putte it to þe fier.
1492. Bury Wills (Camden), 74. The torchys that shall leve after my yere day.
1535. Coverdale, 2 Kings iv. 44. They ate, and there lefte ouer.
a. 1541. Wyatt, Poet. Wks. (1861), 209. Who will’th him well for right therefore shall leve; Who banish him shall be rooted away.
IV. Phraseological combinations.
13. In various idiomatic phrases. a. To leave … alone (earlier † to leave one): to abstain from interfering with; = ‘to let alone’ (see ALONE 4 and LET v.1). In the same sense, To leave … be (colloq.) where leave has been substituted for let without modification of the form of the phrase. b. To leave go (of), to leave hold (of), to leave loose (of) colloq.: to cease holding, to let go.
In to leave go, to leave loose, the vb. was orig. transitive, go being inf., and loose a complementary adj.; but the combinations being used absol. or with ellipsis of the obj. became virtually intransitive vbs., and were construed with of. (Cf. let go, under LET v.1) The frequency in use of the three expressions leave go, leave hold, leave loose, varies in different parts of the country, but perhaps none of them can be regarded as merely dial.
The notion expressed in some Dicts., that leave in some of these phrases represents ME. LEVE (OE. léfan, lýfan), to permit, is quite erroneous.
c. 1400. trans. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. (1898), 88. If þou leue þe water aloon, it shal make whit, and if þow ioynge to ffyre by þe gyft of god it shal wel fare.
c. 1485. in E. E. Misc. (Warton Club), 8. Thou woldus gladly with me fare, And leve one my talkynge.
1738. [G. Smith], Curious Relat., II. 274. A few, who perhaps through Dread had left their Hold … were drowned.
1798. Mad. D’Arblay, Diary (1891), IV. 82. ‘O, leave him alone!’ cried Mr. Pepys: ‘take care only of his health and strength.’
1825. J. Neal, Bro. Jonathan, I. 37. Leave me be, squeaked Miss Edith, whose foot he had caught … under the table.
1841. Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc., II. I. 99. The operator then leaves hold of the spoke.
1851. Helps, Comp. Solit., vi. (1854), 99. People will not be supposed to be educated at the time of their nonage and then left sight of and hold of for evermore.
1868. F. E. Paget, Lucretia, 205. Leave go of me … you young monkey.
1881. Jefferies, Wood Magic, I. v. 133. The bridge is now dry, and therefore you can pass it easily if you do not leave-go of the hand-rail.
1885. Manch. Exam., 5 June, 5/1. We cannot but wish that Mr. Gladstone had left the matter alone.
14. Combined with advs. (For unspecialized combs. see the various senses.)
a. Leave behind. (Also, to leave behind one.) trans. † (a) To neglect, leave undone (obs.). (b) Not to take with one at one’s departure, to go away without. (c) To have remaining after departure or removal, as a trace or consequence. (d) To outstrip.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 26389. Þis ypocrites … þai leue þe grettes plight be-hind.
c. 1325. Poem times Edw. II., 80, in Pol. Songs (Camden), 327. He … leveth thare behind a theef and an hore.
1390. Gower, Conf., II. 263. Behind was no name laft.
1509. Hawes, Past. Pleas., xli. (Percy Soc.), 204. This worldly treasure I must leve behinde.
1660. F. Brooke, trans. Le Blanc’s Trav., 9. Considering they might leave me behind, or sell me.
1670. A. Roberts, Adventures T. S., 159. The Guards that were at the Gate obliged us to leave our Sandals behind.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., III. 306. He … leaves the Scythian Arrow far behind.
1711. Addison, Spect., No. 50, ¶ 2. A little Bundle of Papers … left behind by some mistake.
1746–7. Hervey, Medit. (1818), 217. The rapidity of an eagle, which leaves the stormy blast behind her.
1758. Song, ‘The girl I left behind me.’
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., iv. I. 496. He made such rapid progress in the doctrines of toleration that he left Milton and Locke behind.
1896. A. E. Housman, Shropshire Lad, iii. 1. Leave your home behind, lad.
† b. Leave down, trans. To discontinue, let drop. Obs.
1548. Proclam., in Strype, Eccl. Mem., II. App. O. 46. That no maner person … do omyt, leave down,… or innovate any order, rite, or ceremony commonly used … and not commaunded to be left down … in the reign of our late sovereign lord.
c. Leave off. (a) trans. To cease from, discontinue (an action), abandon (a habit); with obj. a gerund or sb., formerly also an inf. with to. Also, to cease to wear or use (something).
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 3587. Lefe of þis langore.
c. 1440. York Myst., xxxii. 295. Leffe of þi talke.
1480. Caxton, Descr. Brit., 22. Afterward the romayns lefte of her regning in britayne.
1535. Coverdale, Luke v. 4. Whan he had left of talkinge he sayde [etc.].
1563–83. Foxe, A. & M., I. 259. [Francis of Assisi] left of shoes, had but one coate, and that of a course clothe.
1581. Mulcaster, Positions, v. (1887), 33. That the learning to write be not left of, vntil it be verie perfit.
1589. Puttenham, Eng. Poesie, iii. xxiii. (Arb.), 279. Bid him leaue off such affected flattering termes.
1622. Mabbe, trans. Aleman’s Guzman d’Alf., II. 41. His crosse fortune, which did neuer leaue off to persecute him.
1687. Miége, Gt. Fr. Dict., II. s.v., Leave off this wrangling, cessez de vous quereler.
1704. Lond. Gaz., No. 4083/4. Tho. Brown … wears a Wig, but his Hair almost long enough to leave it off.
1737. Whiston, Josephus, Antiq., I. iii. § 8. But I will leave off for the time to come to require such punishments.
1875. Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), III. 303. Those invalids who … will not leave off their habits of intemperance.
1885. G. Allen, Babylon, viii. They left off work early.
1891. Field, 21 Nov., 774/3. We had reluctantly to leave off fishing.
† (b) In occasional uses, now obsolete: To give up (a possession, a business or employment); to forsake the society of (a person); to ‘give up’ (a patient) as incurable. Obs.
1534. More, Comf. agst. Trib., II. Wks. 1200/2. If it so be, yt a man … perceiueth that in welth & authoritie he doth his own soule harme,… then wold I in any wise aduise him to leaue of that thing, be it spirituall benefice yt he haue,… or temporal rowm & authoritie.
1662. R. Mathew, Unl. Alch., xxxi. 27. Left off by a very honest and able Doctor.
1706. Hearne, Collect., 2 Jan. (O. H. S.), I. 154. To oblige him to leave off Pupils he made him his Curate.
1712. Steele, Spect., No. 264, ¶ 2. He left off all his old Acquaintance to a Man.
1720. De Foe, Capt. Singleton, xx. (1840), 341. He would send her sufficient to enable her to leave off her shop.
(c) absol. and intr. To cease doing something implied by the context; to make an end or interruption, to stop. Of a narrative: To end, terminate. Also Comm. of shares, etc.: To end (at a certain price) on the closing of the market.
1415. Hoccleve, To Sir J. Oldcastle, 152. Your wit is al to feeble to despute … Stynte and leue of.
c. 1475. Rauf Coilȝear, 174. Is nane so gude as leif of, and mak na mair stryfe.
1535. Coverdale, Ps. xxxvi[i]. 8. Leaue of from wrath, let go displeasure.
1563–83. Foxe, A. & M., 1615/1. Now death draweth nye, and I [Bradford] by your leaue must now leaue of, to prepare for him.
1611. Bible, Ecclus. xxxi. 17. Leaue off first for maners sake, and be not vnsatiable.
1700. Dryden, Pref. Fables, Wks. (Globe), 499. He knows also when to leave off, a continence which is practised by few writers.
1711. Addison, Spect., No. 130, ¶ 4. Here the printed story leaves off.
1816. Crabb, Synonymes (1829), 148/1. A break is made in a page of printing by leaving off in the middle of a line.
1875. Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), I. 206. Take up the enquiry where I left off.
1883. Manch. Exam., 30 Nov., 4/1. South Austrian shares leit off at last night’s quotations.
1895. Bookman, Oct., 25/1. It is merely a first volume, and we leave off with an appetite.
d. Leave out. To omit, not to insert or include.
a. 1470. Gregory, Chron. (Camd.), 203. They seyng and redynge hys papyr, commaundyd to leve owte and put a way many troughtys.
c. 1484. Caxton, Proem to Chaucer’s Cant. T. I erryd … in settyng in somme thynges that he neuer … made, and leuynge out many thynges that he made.
1545. Ascham, Toxoph., II. (Arb.), 110. And these thynges althoughe they be trifles, yet … I woulde not leue them out.
1613. Purchas, Pilgrimage, To Rdr. (1614), ¶ v. The most leave out their Authors, as if their owne assertion were sufficient authoritie.
1653. Walton, Angler, ii. 46. A companion that feasts the company with wit and mirth, and leaves out the sin which is usually mixed with them.
1676. Lister, in Ray’s Corr. (1848), 124. I shall only put you in mind that you leave not out the vinegar.
1735. Lord Tyrawly, in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.), I. 387. They could not with any decency do it for him and leave me out.
1766. Goldsm., Vic. W., xi. He seldom leaves anything out, as he writes only for his own amusement.
1843. H. Rogers, Ess. (1860), III. 79. They can leave out, if they do not put in.
1887. ‘L. Carroll,’ Game of Logic, i. § 1. 6. We agree to leave out the word ‘Cakes’ altogether.
e. Leave over. trans. To allow to remain for future use; to let ‘stand over’ for subsequent consideration.
1887. Times (weekly ed.), 14 Oct., 3/2. He thought the matter might be left over for the present.
† f. Leave up. To abandon, give up, resign. Obs.
1430–40. Lydg., Bochas, IX. xxxiv. (1554), 214 b. The second [sonne] left up his cleargie.
1523. Ld. Berners, Froiss., I. lv. 76. The kyng might be fayne … to leave up the siege at Tourney. Ibid., ccxv. 271. That was the cause that dyuers of them left vp their fortresses.
1530. Compend. Treat. (Arb.), 178. He saide that he wold leaue vp the office of Chaunceler.
