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last.

Final, ultimate, coming after all others of its kind.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/lɑːst/Received-Pronunciation/læst/General-American/last/Canada, Northern-England/ɫast/Scotland
  1. Final, ultimate, coming after all others of its kind.

    not-comparable
    Will try to fix it by myself for now: as a last resort, we can always take it to a grease monkey.
    Eyes Wide Shut was the last film to be directed by Stanley Kubrick.
  2. Most recent, latest, last so far.

    not-comparable
    The last time I saw him, he was married.
    I have received your note dated the 17th last, and am responding to say that[…]
  3. Farthest of all from a given quality, character, or condition; most unlikely, or least preferable.

    not-comparable
    He is the last person to be accused of theft.
    The last person I want to meet is Helen.
  4. Being the only one remaining of its class.

    not-comparable
    Japan is the last empire.
  5. Supreme; highest in degree; utmost.

    not-comparable
  6. Lowest in rank or degree.

    not-comparable
    Three contestants will win awards, but the last prize is just a book voucher.
Where this word comes from

From Middle English laste, latst, syncopated variant of latest, both ultimately from Old English latost. Doublet of latest.

det/lɑːst/Received-Pronunciation/læst/General-American/last/Canada, Northern-England/ɫast/Scotland
  1. The (one) immediately before the present.

    We went there last year.
    I was last to go; you're next.
  2. Closest in the past, or closest but one if the closest was very recent; of days, sometimes thought to specifically refer to the instance closest to seven days (one week) ago, or the most recent instance before seven days (one week) ago.

    It's Wednesday, and the party was last Tuesday; that is, not yesterday, but eight days ago.
    When you say last Monday, do you mean the Monday just gone, or the one before that?
Where this word comes from

From Middle English laste, latst, syncopated variant of latest, both ultimately from Old English latost. Doublet of latest.

adv/lɑːst/Received-Pronunciation/læst/General-American/last/Canada, Northern-England/ɫast/Scotland
  1. Most recently.

    not-comparable
    When we last met, he was based in Toronto.
  2. after everything else; finally

    not-comparable · sequence
    As I arrived last of all, I'll go last to add the butter last.
    last but not least
Where this word comes from

From Middle English laste, latst, syncopated variant of latest, both ultimately from Old English latost. Doublet of latest.

verb/lɑːst/Received-Pronunciation/læst/General-American/last/Canada, Northern-England/ɫast/Scotland
  1. To endure, continue over time.

    intransitive
    Summer seems to last longer each year.
    They seem happy now, but that won't last long.
  2. To hold out, continue undefeated or entire.

    intransitive
    I don't know how much longer we can last without reinforcements.
  3. To purposefully refrain from orgasm

    intransitive · slang
  4. To perform, carry out.

    obsolete · transitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English lasten, from Old English lǣstan, from Proto-West Germanic *laistijan, from Proto-Germanic *laistijaną. Cognate with German leisten (“yield”).

noun/lɑːst/Received-Pronunciation/læst/General-American/last/Canada, Northern-England/ɫast/Scotland
  1. A tool in the form of a foot on which an item of footwear (such as a boot or shoe) is placed for shaping while it is being manufactured or repaired.

Where this word comes from

The noun is derived from Middle English lest, leste (“shoemaker’s model shaped like a foot, last”), from Old English lǣste (“shoemaker‘s last”), from Proto-Germanic *laistiz, from *laisǭ (“track, trail”), from Proto-Indo-European *leys-eh₂-, from *leys- (“to trace; to track”). Doublet of learn and lore. The verb is derived from the noun. cognates * Dutch leest * German Leisten * Proto-Germanic *laistaz (“footprint”) * Swedish läst

verb/lɑːst/Received-Pronunciation/læst/General-American/last/Canada, Northern-England/ɫast/Scotland
  1. To shape (an item of footwear such as a boot or shoe) during its manufacture or repair while it is placed on a last (noun etymology 3, noun sense 1).

    transitive
    to last a boot
Where this word comes from

The noun is derived from Middle English lest, leste (“shoemaker’s model shaped like a foot, last”), from Old English lǣste (“shoemaker‘s last”), from Proto-Germanic *laistiz, from *laisǭ (“track, trail”), from Proto-Indo-European *leys-eh₂-, from *leys- (“to trace; to track”). Doublet of learn and lore. The verb is derived from the noun. cognates * Dutch leest * German Leisten * Proto-Germanic *laistaz (“footprint”) * Swedish läst

noun/lɑːst/Received-Pronunciation/læst/General-American/last/Canada, Northern-England/ɫast/Scotland
  1. A burden; load; a cargo; freight.

    obsolete
  2. A measure of weight or quantity, varying in designation depending on the goods concerned.

    obsolete
  3. An old English (and Dutch) measure of the carrying capacity of a ship, equal to two tons.

    obsolete
  4. A load of some commodity with reference to its weight and commercial value.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English last, from Old English hlæst (“burden, load, freight”), from Proto-Germanic *hlastuz (“burden, load, freight”), from Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂- (“to put, lay out”). Cognate with West Frisian lêst, Dutch last, German Last, Swedish last, Icelandic lest.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.