last

Meanings

1. 1
   adv

   most_recently

   I saw them last in London.

2. 2
   adv

   the item at the end

   last, I'll discuss family values

3. 3
   adj

   occurring at the time of death

   Their last words were unheard.

4. 4
   adj

   lowest in rank or importance

   last prize

5. 5
   adj

   coming after all others in time or space or degree or being the only one remaining

   the last time I saw Paris

6. 6
   adj

   highest in extent or degree

   to the last measure of human endurance

7. 7
   adj

   most unlikely or unsuitable

   the last person we would have suspected

8. 8
   noun

   the last or lowest in an ordering or series

   They were the last to leave.

Etymology

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