Etymology

Input from the v. represented by OIcel láta < PGmc *lētan- (cp. Go lētan, OE lǣtan (Angl. lētan), OFris lēta, OS lātan, OHG lāzan) has been cited (so Menner, Anderson, McGee 392, MED) for the v. at Cl 101 with the sense 'overlook, omit'; cp. OIcel fyrir-láta 'let go, give up'. Semantically (in constrast to developments of the formally native lete (v.)), this could derive straightforwardly from OE forlǣtan (Angl. -lētan) 'let go, relinquish, surrender, abandon, neglect', but the spelling in <o> suggests instead ON /a:/.

PGmc Ancestor

*lētan-

Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)

láta 'to put, place, suffer, grant; to leave off; to let, cause, make (etc.); cp. fyrir-láta 'let go, give up'
(ONP láta (vb.) ; cp. fyrir-láta (vb.))

Other Scandinavian Reflexes

Far lata, láta, Icel láta, Norw låta, Dan lade, Sw låta

OE Cognate

forlǣtan 'let go, relinquish, surrender, abandon, neglect'

Phonological and morphological markers

ON /ɑ:/ &lt; PGmc */e:/ (1)

Summary category

A1*c

Attestation

This form with the prefix and <o> spelling is only cited by MED from Cl; OED treats it as a variant of the common ME v. forleten.

Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus

Cl 101

GollCl reads <forleteʒ>, but all other editors read <o> (see McGee 392).

Bibliography

MED forlōten (v.) , OED forlet (v.1) , HTOED ; see further lete (v.).