Etymology

cp. OIcel lát (pl.) ‘manner, sound’ < PGmc *lētan; cp. Go aflēt ‘indulgence’, MLG gelaet ‘behaviour’, OHG lāz ‘letting go, interruption’. Olszewska (1933: 82) attributes the phrase ‘lete … lotez’ (1086) to the model of ON láta látum (see further lete (as)). OE gelǣte ‘manners, bearing’ is sometimes cited as a cognate, but this word occurs only once in a late text, and is conceivably derived from Norse, cp. the OIcel i-mutated pl. læti (see further Dance 2003: 429).

PGmc Ancestor

*lētan

Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)

lát (pl.) ‘manner, sound’
(ONP lát (sb.), læti (sb.))

Other Scandinavian Reflexes

Far lát, Icel lát, Norw låt, ODan låd, Dan låder, Sw låt

OE Cognate

Phonological and morphological markers

ON /ɑ:/ &lt; PGmc */e:/ (1)

Summary category

A1ac

Attestation

Relatively widespread in early ME, but restricted to N and E and alliterative traditions by the 14c.

Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus

Gaw 119, 244, 639, etc.; Pe 238, 876, 896; Cl 668; Pat 47, 161, 183 WA 152, 491, 3998 etc.

Bibliography

MED lōt(e (n.) , OED3 lait (n.2) , HTOED , HTOED , Dance lote, Bj. 91, de Vries lát, Mag. lát, Orel *lētan, AEW lǣt (2)