laisser

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French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French laisser, from Old French lesser, lessier, laissier (“to let, let go, leave”), from Latin laxāre (“to relax, loosen”); possibly partly from or influenced by Old High German lāzan (“to let, let go, leave”) (German lassen), from Proto-West Germanic *lātan (“to let, leave, leave alone”). More at let, lay.

Cognates
Cognate with Old English lǣtan (“to allow, let go, leave, rent”), Gothic 𐌻𐌴𐍄𐌰𐌽 (lētan, “to release, forgive”), Italian lasciare (“to leave, let, allow”). Conflated also with Old French laiier (“to leave, abandon, allow”) (compare Old Occitan laihar, laiar, Old Northern Italian lagare), also of Germanic origin, from Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 (lagjan, “to lay, let lie, leave”), from Proto-Germanic *lagjaną (“to lay”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /lɛ.se/ ~ /le.se/
  • Audio:(file)

Verb

laisser

  1. (transitive) to leave, to leave behind
    Laissez le pistolet sur la table
    Leave the gun on the table
  2. (transitive) to forget, to leave alone
  3. (transitive) to leave with, to give
  4. (transitive) to let, to allow
  5. (reflexive, se laisser) to allow oneself, to let oneself

Conjugation

Conjugation of laisser (see also Appendix:French verbs)
infinitive simple laisser
compound avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1 simple laissant
/lɛ.sɑ̃/ or /le.sɑ̃/
compound ayant + past participle
past participle laissé
/lɛ.se/ or /le.se/
singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative je (j’) tu il, elle, on nous vous ils, elles
(simple
tenses) 		present laisse
/lɛs/ 		laisses
/lɛs/ 		laisse
/lɛs/ 		laissons
/lɛ.sɔ̃/ or /le.sɔ̃/ 		laissez
/lɛ.se/ or /le.se/ 		laissent
/lɛs/
imperfect laissais
/lɛ.sɛ/ or /le.sɛ/ 		laissais
/lɛ.sɛ/ or /le.sɛ/ 		laissait
/lɛ.sɛ/ or /le.sɛ/ 		laissions
/lɛ.sjɔ̃/ or /le.sjɔ̃/ 		laissiez
/lɛ.sje/ or /le.sje/ 		laissaient
/lɛ.sɛ/ or /le.sɛ/
past historic2 laissai
/lɛ.se/ or /le.se/ 		laissas
/lɛ.sa/ or /le.sa/ 		laissa
/lɛ.sa/ or /le.sa/ 		laissâmes
/lɛ.sam/ or /le.sam/ 		laissâtes
/lɛ.sat/ or /le.sat/ 		laissèrent
/lɛ.sɛʁ/ or /le.sɛʁ/
future laisserai
/lɛ.sʁe/ or /le.sʁe/ 		laisseras
/lɛ.sʁa/ or /le.sʁa/ 		laissera
/lɛ.sʁa/ or /le.sʁa/ 		laisserons
/lɛ.sʁɔ̃/ or /le.sʁɔ̃/ 		laisserez
/lɛ.sʁe/ or /le.sʁe/ 		laisseront
/lɛ.sʁɔ̃/ or /le.sʁɔ̃/
conditional laisserais
/lɛ.sʁɛ/ or /le.sʁɛ/ 		laisserais
/lɛ.sʁɛ/ or /le.sʁɛ/ 		laisserait
/lɛ.sʁɛ/ or /le.sʁɛ/ 		laisserions
/lɛ.sə.ʁjɔ̃/ or /le.sə.ʁjɔ̃/ 		laisseriez
/lɛ.sə.ʁje/ or /le.sə.ʁje/ 		laisseraient
/lɛ.sʁɛ/ or /le.sʁɛ/
(compound
tenses) 		present perfect present indicative of avoir + past participle
pluperfect imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
past anterior2 past historic of avoir + past participle
future perfect future of avoir + past participle
conditional perfect conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive que je (j’) que tu qu’il, qu’elle que nous que vous qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple
tenses) 		present laisse
/lɛs/ 		laisses
/lɛs/ 		laisse
/lɛs/ 		laissions
/lɛ.sjɔ̃/ or /le.sjɔ̃/ 		laissiez
/lɛ.sje/ or /le.sje/ 		laissent
/lɛs/
imperfect2 laissasse
/lɛ.sas/ or /le.sas/ 		laissasses
/lɛ.sas/ or /le.sas/ 		laissât
/lɛ.sa/ or /le.sa/ 		laissassions
/lɛ.sa.sjɔ̃/ or /le.sa.sjɔ̃/ 		laissassiez
/lɛ.sa.sje/ or /le.sa.sje/ 		laissassent
/lɛ.sas/ or /le.sas/
(compound
tenses) 		past present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
pluperfect2 imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative – tu – nous vous –
simple — laisse
/lɛs/ 		— laissons
/lɛ.sɔ̃/ or /le.sɔ̃/ 		laissez
/lɛ.se/ or /le.se/ 		—
compound — simple imperative of avoir + past participle — simple imperative of avoir + past participle simple imperative of avoir + past participle —
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
  • past historic → present perfect
  • past anterior → pluperfect
  • imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive
  • pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive

(Christopher Kendris , Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived terms

Descendants

  • → Breton: lezel

Further reading

Anagrams

Middle French

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old French lesser, lessier, laissier (“to let, let go, leave”), from Latin laxō, laxāre (“to relax, loosen”); partly from or influenced by Old High German lāzan (“to let, let go, leave”) (German lassen), from Proto-West Germanic *lātan (“to let, leave, leave alone”).

Verb

laisser

  1. to allow; to permit
  2. to leave (not take)
  3. to leave alone (not interfere)
    • 1488, Jean Dupré, Lancelot du Lac, page 74:
      [ie] vous prie que vous me laissiez ceste bataille
      I beg of you to let me go into this battle alone

Conjugation

  • Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.
Conjugation of laisser
infinitive simple laisser
compound avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2 simple laissant
compound present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle laissé
singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative ie (i’) tu il, elle nous vous ilz, elles
(simple
tenses) 		present laisse laisses laisse laissons laissez laissent
imperfect laissois, laissoys laissois, laissoys laissoit, laissoyt laissions, laissyons laissiez, laissyez laissoient, laissoyent
past historic laissa laissas laissa laissasmes laissastes laisserent
future laisserai, laisseray laisseras laissera laisserons laisserez laisseront
conditional laisserois, laisseroys laisserois, laisseroys laisseroit, laisseroyt laisserions, laisseryons laisseriez, laisseryez laisseroient, laisseroyent
(compound
tenses) 		present perfect present indicative of avoir + past participle
pluperfect imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
past anterior past historic of avoir + past participle
future perfect future of avoir + past participle
conditional perfect conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive que ie (i’) que tu qu’il, qu’elle que nous que vous qu’ilz, qu’elles
(simple
tenses) 		present laisse laisses laisse laissons laissez laissent
imperfect laissasse laissasses laissast laissassions laissassiez laissassent
(compound
tenses) 		past present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
pluperfect imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative – tu – nous vous –
simple — laisse — laissons laissez —
compound — simple imperative of avoir + past participle — simple imperative of avoir + past participle simple imperative of avoir + past participle —
1 The present participle was variable in gender and number until the 17th century (Anne Sancier-Château , Une esthétique nouvelle: Honoré d'Urfé, correcteur de l'Astrée, p. 179). The French Academy would eventually declare it not to be declined in 1679.
2 The gerund was held to be invariable by grammarians of the early 17th century, and was usable with preposition en, as in Modern French, although the preposition was not mandatory (Anne Sancier-Château , op. cit., p. 180).

Synonyms

Descendants

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