let

06 SEP 2026

0/6 word facts discovered

/lɛt/

verb

used in the imperative to introduce a request or proposal

a command to allow an action

used in the imperative to introduce a request or proposal

Let me see yours.

Japanese equivalent ～させる、許す させる · saseru / ゆるす · yurusu

to let or allow someone to do something

In Japanese

そっちのも見せて。

Let me see yours too.

Hear the Japanese

life of let
Let reaches back to Old English lǣtan, which already carried the intertwined meanings “allow,” “leave behind,” and “leave undone.” Its Germanic relatives include Dutch laten and German lassen.

English also inherited a second, unrelated let from Old English lettan, meaning “hinder” or “delay”—nearly the opposite of the familiar word. That older sense survives in the legal phrase “without let or hindrance.”
The Scrabble score is 3 points: L = 1, E = 1, and T = 1.
3 letters and 1 syllable.
It is pronounced /lɛt/, rhyming with get and set.
Let is irregular: its base, past-tense, and past-participle forms are all let.
Let’s contracts let us when introducing a suggestion: “Let’s go.”
The Japanese causative ～させる can express permission, while natural requests often fold the idea into another verb: 見せて, “show me.”
Word neighbors: lest → let (verb) → let (noun).
The example sentence appears in Prompted Hearts & Grief Algorithm (2025). Read Prompted Hearts & Grief Algorithm