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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

list.

A strip of fabric, especially from the edge of a piece of cloth.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/lɪst/
  1. A strip of fabric, especially from the edge of a piece of cloth.

  2. Material used for cloth selvage.

  3. A register or roll of paper consisting of a compilation or enumeration of a set of possible items; the compilation or enumeration itself.

  4. The barriers or palisades used to fence off a space for jousting or tilting tournaments.

    historical · in-plural
  5. The scene of a military contest; the ground or field of combat; an enclosed space that serves as a battlefield; the site of a pitched battle.

    historical · in-plural
  6. A codified representation of a list used to store data or in processing; especially, in the Lisp programming language, a data structure consisting of a sequence of zero or more items.

  7. A little square moulding; a fillet or listel.

  8. A narrow strip of wood, especially sapwood, cut from the edge of a board or plank.

  9. A piece of woollen cloth with which the yarns are grasped by a worker.

  10. The first thin coating of tin; a wire-like rim of tin left on an edge of the plate after it is coated.

  11. A stripe.

    obsolete
  12. A boundary or limit; a border.

    obsolete
Where this word comes from

From Middle English lī̆st, lī̆ste (“band, stripe; hem, selvage; border, edge, rim; list, specification; barriers enclosing area for jousting, etc.”), from Old English līste (“hem, edge, strip”), or Old French liste, listre (“border; band; strip of paper; list”), or Medieval Latin lista, all from Proto-West Germanic *līstā, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *leys- (“to trace, track”). Cognates * Saterland Frisian Lieste (“margin, strip, list”) * Dutch lijst (“picture frame, list”) * German Low German Liest (“edging, border”) * German Leiste (“strip, rail, ledge; (heraldry) bar”) * Swedish lista (“list”) * Icelandic lista listi (“list”) * Italian lista (“list; strip”) * Portuguese lista (“list”) * Spanish lista (“list, roll; stripe”) * Galician lista (“band, strip; list”) * Finnish lista (“(informal) list; batten”).

verb/lɪst/
  1. To create or recite a list.

    transitive
  2. To place in listings.

    transitive
  3. To sew together, as strips of cloth, so as to make a show of colours, or to form a border.

    transitive
  4. To cover with list, or with strips of cloth; to put list on; to stripe as if with list.

    transitive
    to list a door
  5. To plough and plant with a lister.

    transitive
  6. To prepare (land) for a cotton crop by making alternating beds and alleys with a hoe.

    Southern-US · transitive
  7. To cut away a narrow strip, as of sapwood, from the edge of.

    transitive
    to list a board
  8. To enclose (a field, etc.) for combat.

    transitive
  9. To engage a soldier, etc.; to enlist.

    obsolete · transitive
  10. To engage in public service by enrolling one's name; to enlist.

    intransitive · obsolete
  11. To give a building of architectural or historical interest listed status; see also the adjective listed.

  12. To trade on a particular stock exchange.

    intransitive · transitive
    I was able to invest as soon as the company was listed.
Where this word comes from

From Middle English lī̆st, lī̆ste (“band, stripe; hem, selvage; border, edge, rim; list, specification; barriers enclosing area for jousting, etc.”), from Old English līste (“hem, edge, strip”), or Old French liste, listre (“border; band; strip of paper; list”), or Medieval Latin lista, all from Proto-West Germanic *līstā, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *leys- (“to trace, track”). Cognates * Saterland Frisian Lieste (“margin, strip, list”) * Dutch lijst (“picture frame, list”) * German Low German Liest (“edging, border”) * German Leiste (“strip, rail, ledge; (heraldry) bar”) * Swedish lista (“list”) * Icelandic lista listi (“list”) * Italian lista (“list; strip”) * Portuguese lista (“list”) * Spanish lista (“list, roll; stripe”) * Galician lista (“band, strip; list”) * Finnish lista (“(informal) list; batten”).

noun/lɪst/
  1. Art; craft; cunning; skill.

    archaic · uncountable
Where this word comes from

From Middle English list, liste (“ability, cleverness, cunning, skill; adroitness, dexterity; strategem, trick; device, design, token”), from Old English list (“art, craft; cleverness, cunning, experience, skill”), from Proto-West Germanic *listi, from Proto-Germanic *listiz (“art, craft”), from Proto-Indo-European *leys-, *leyǝs- (“furrow, trace, track, trail”). The word is cognate with Dutch list (“artifice, guile, sleight; ruse, strategem”), German List (“cunning, guile; ploy, ruse, trick”), Low German list (“artifice, cunning; prudence, wisdom”), Icelandic list (“art”), Saterland Frisian list (“cunning, knowledge”), Scots list (“art, craft, skill; cunning”), Swedish list (“art; cunning, guile, wile; ruse, trick; stealth”), and possibly Spanish listo (“clever”). It is also related to learn, lore.

verb/lɪst/
  1. To listen.

    intransitive · poetic
  2. To listen to.

    poetic · transitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English listen, from Old English hlystan (“to listen”), from hlyst (“hearing”), from Proto-West Germanic *hlusti, from Proto-Germanic *hlustiz (“hearing”).

verb/lɪst/
  1. To desire, like, or wish (to do something).

    archaic · transitive
  2. To be pleasing to.

    archaic · transitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English listen, list, liste, leste, lesten (“to choose, desire, wish (to do something)”), from Old English lystan, from Proto-West Germanic *lustijan, from Proto-Germanic *lustijaną, from Proto-Germanic *lustuz (“pleasure”). The word is cognate with Saterland Frisian läste (“to wish for, desire, crave”), West Frisian lêste (“to like, desire”), Dutch lusten (“to appreciate, like; to lust”), German lüsten, gelüsten (“to desire, want, crave”), Danish lyste (“to desire, feel like, want”), Faroese lysta (“to desire”). The noun sense is from the verb, or from Middle English list, liste, lest, leste (“desire, wish; craving, longing; enjoyment, joy, pleasure”), which is derived from Middle English listen, list (verb).

noun/lɪst/
  1. Desire, inclination.

    obsolete
Where this word comes from

From Middle English listen, list, liste, leste, lesten (“to choose, desire, wish (to do something)”), from Old English lystan, from Proto-West Germanic *lustijan, from Proto-Germanic *lustijaną, from Proto-Germanic *lustuz (“pleasure”). The word is cognate with Saterland Frisian läste (“to wish for, desire, crave”), West Frisian lêste (“to like, desire”), Dutch lusten (“to appreciate, like; to lust”), German lüsten, gelüsten (“to desire, want, crave”), Danish lyste (“to desire, feel like, want”), Faroese lysta (“to desire”). The noun sense is from the verb, or from Middle English list, liste, lest, leste (“desire, wish; craving, longing; enjoyment, joy, pleasure”), which is derived from Middle English listen, list (verb).

noun/lɪst/
  1. A tilt to a building.

  2. A careening or tilting to one side, usually not intentionally or under a vessel's own power.

Where this word comes from

Uncertain; possibly from tilting on lists in jousts, or from Etymology 4 in the sense of inclining towards what one desires.

verb/lɪst/
  1. To cause (something) to tilt to one side.

    transitive
    The steady wind listed the ship.
  2. To tilt to one side.

    intransitive
    The ship listed to port.
Where this word comes from

Uncertain; possibly from tilting on lists in jousts, or from Etymology 4 in the sense of inclining towards what one desires.

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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.