list

• enPR: lĭst, IPA^(key): /lɪst/

• Audio (GA)

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• Audio (AU)

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• Rhymes: -ɪst
• Homophone: Liszt

From Middle English lī̆st, lī̆ste (“band, stripe; hem, selvage; border, edge, rim; list, specification; barriers enclosing area for jousting, etc.”), from Old English līste (“hem, edge, strip”), or Old French liste, listre (“border; band; strip of paper; list”), or Medieval Latin lista,[1] all from Proto-West Germanic *līstā, from Proto-Germanic *līstǭ (“band, strip; hem, selvage; border, edge”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *leys- (“to trace, track”).

The word is cognate with Saterland Frisian Lieste (“margin, strip, list”), Dutch lijst (“picture frame, list”), German Low German Liest (“edging, border”), German Leiste (“strip, rail, ledge; (heraldry) bar”), Swedish lista (“list”), Icelandic lista, listi (“list”), Italian lista (“list; strip”), Portuguese lista (“list”), Spanish lista (“list, roll; stripe”), Galician lista (“band, strip; list”), Finnish lista (“(informal) list; batten”).

list (plural lists)

1. A strip of fabric, especially from the edge of a piece of cloth.
   • c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], page 62, column 1, lines 27–34:

     1. Gent[leman]. Well: there went but a paire of ſheeres betweene vs. / Luc[io]. I grant: as there may betweene the Liſts, and the Veluet. Thou art the Liſt. / 1. Gent. And thou the Veluet. Thou art good Veluet; thou'rt a three pild-piece I warrant thee: I had as liefe be a Lyſt of an Engliſh Kerſey, as be pil'd, as thou art pil'd, for a French Veluet. Do I ſpeake feelingly now?

     1st Gentleman. Well, you and I are cut from the same cloth. / Lucio. I agree: just as the lists [scraps from the edge of the cloth] and the velvet are from the same cloth. You are the list. / 1st Gentleman. And you are the velvet. You are good velvet; you are a three-piled piece, I'll bet. I would willingly be a list of an English kersey, than be full of piles [haemorrhoids], as you are piled, like a French velvet. Do I speak feelingly now?

   • 1913, Arthur Conan Doyle, “(please specify the page)”, in The Poison Belt […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

     Why should we not send a message out over London which would attract to us anyone who might still be alive? I ran across, and pulling at the list-covered rope, I was surprised to find how difficult it was to swing the bell.

2. Material used for cloth selvage.
   • 1871 September 18, “The Jewish New Year”, in The Jewish Herald: A Record of Christian Effort for the Salvation of Israel, London: John Snow & Co., […]; and the British Society [for the Propagation of the Gospel Among the Jews], […], published 1 November 1871, →OCLC, page 174:

     Previous to the offering up of prayer, however, the persons chosen for this office [of praying for the people] had divested themselves of their boots and put on list slippers, their hands being washed by "the descendants of Levi" at a basin near the Holy of Holies.

   • 1893, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “The Naval Treaty”, in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, New York, N.Y.: A. L. Burt, →OCLC; republished London: John Murray, […], January 1950, →OCLC, page 255:

     "How is it, then, that the woman who came into the room about nine left to traces with her muddy boots?" / "I am glad you raise the point. It occurred to me at the time. The charwomen are in the habit of taking off their boots at the commissionaire's office, and putting on list slippers."

3. A register or roll of paper consisting of a compilation or enumeration of a set of possible items; the compilation or enumeration itself. [from 1600]
   • 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Youth and Age. XLII.”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC, pages 247–248:

     Natures that haue much Heat, and great and violent deſires and Perturbations, are not ripe for Action, till they haue paſſed the Meridian of their yeares: As it was with Iulius Cæſar, and Septimius Seuerus. […] And yet he [Septimus Severus] was the Ableſt Emperour, almoſt, of all the Liſt.

   • 1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave I. Marley’s Ghost.”, in A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, pages 11–12:

     "Scrooge and Marley's, I believe," said one of the gentlemen, referring to his list. "Have I the pleasure of addressing Mr. Scrooge, or Mr. Marley?"

   • 2013 June 29, “A punch in the gut: How microbes promote liver cancer in the overweight”, in The Economist‎, volume 407, number 8842, pages 72–73:

     Mostly, the microbiome is beneficial. […] Research over the past few years, however, has implicated it in diseases from atherosclerosis to asthma to autism. Dr Yoshimoto and his colleagues would like to add liver cancer to that list.

4. (in the plural, historical) The barriers or palisades used to fence off a space for jousting or tilting tournaments.
   • 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene 3]:

     On pain of death, no person be so bold
     Or daring-hardy as to touch the lists,
     Except the marshal and such officers
     Appointed to direct these fair designs.

   • 1662, [Samuel Butler], “[The First Part of Hudibras]”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678, →OCLC; republished in A[lfred] R[ayney] Waller, editor, Hudibras: Written in the Time of the Late Wars, Cambridge: University Press, 1905, →OCLC, canto II, page 32:

     With Truncheon tip'd with Iron head, / The Warrior to the Lists [he] led; […]

   • 1715, Homer, [Alexander] Pope, transl., “Book III”, in The Iliad of Homer, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC, page 16, lines 319–323:

     Ariſe, O Father of the Trojan State! / The Nations call, thy joyful People wait, / To ſeal the Truce and end the dire Debate. / Paris thy Son, and Sparta’s King advance, / In meaſur’d Liſts to toſs the weighty Lance; […]

   • 1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, chapter VIII, in Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 139:

     William de Wyvil, and Stephen de Martival, […] armed at all points, rode up and down the lists to enforce and preserve good order among the spectators.

   • 1951, C. S. Lewis, “Chapter 14. How All Were Very Busy”, in Prince Caspian:

     They ran down to the lists and Peter came outside the ropes to meet them, his face red and sweaty, his chest heaving.

5. (in the plural, military, historical) The scene of a military contest; the ground or field of combat; an enclosed space that serves as a battlefield; the site of a pitched battle.
   • 1862, John Williamson Palmer, Stonewall Jackson's Way :

     The sun’s bright lances rout the mists of morning, and by George! Here’s Longstreet struggling in the lists, hemmed in an ugly gorge. Pope and his Yankees, whipped before, “Bay’nets and grape!” hear Stonewall roar; “Charge, Stuart! Pay off Ashby’s score!” in “Stonewall Jackson’s Way.”

6. (computing, programming) A codified representation of a list used to store data or in processing; especially, in the Lisp programming language, a data structure consisting of a sequence of zero or more items.
   • 1985 March 10, Ed Acly, “A Tale of Three Languages: C, Ada & Lisp”, in Computerworld: The Newsweekly for the Computer Community, volume XIX, number 12, Framingham, Mass.: CW Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, page ID/10, columns 1–2:

     Lisp is an applicative language. This means that it is structured around applying functions (operations) to a linked list of arguments that accompany those functions. […] A function call or function definition is only coded in the syntax of a list, which can be of an indefinite length. Thus, the list is the only data structure for a Lisp program.

7. (architecture) A little square moulding; a fillet or listel.
   • 1788, [John Carter], “STRIÆ”, in The Builder’s Magazine: Or, A Universal Dictionary for Architects, Carpenters, Masons, Bricklayers, &c. […], new edition, London: Printed for E. Newbery, […], →OCLC, page 284:

     STRIÆ, in ancient architecture, the liſts, fillets or rays which ſeparate the ſtriges or flutings of columns.

   • 1876, Edward Shaw, Thomas W[illiam] Silloway, George M[ilford] Harding, “Introduction”, in Civil Architecture; being a Complete Theoretical and Practical System of Building, Containing the Fundamental Principles of the Art. […], 11th edition, Philadelphia, Pa.: Henry Carey Baird & Co., […], →OCLC, page 22, column 2:

     A volute is a kind of spiral scroll, used in the Ionic and Composite capitals, of which it makes the principal characteristic and ornament. […] There are several diversities practised in the volute. In some, the list or edge, throughout all the circumvolutions, is in the same line or plane. […] [I]n others, the canal or one circumvolution is detached from the list of another by a vacuity or aperture.

8. (carpentry) A narrow strip of wood, especially sapwood, cut from the edge of a board or plank.
9. (ropemaking) A piece of woollen cloth with which the yarns are grasped by a worker.
10. (tin-plate manufacture) The first thin coating of tin; a wire-like rim of tin left on an edge of the plate after it is coated.
11. (obsolete) A stripe.
    • 1650, Thomas Browne, “Of the Same [i.e., the Blacknesse of Negroes]”, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC, 6th book, page 282:

      Thus the Aſſe having a peculiar mark of a croſſe made by a black liſt down his back, and another athwart, or at right angles down his ſhoulders; common opinion aſcribes this figure unto a peculiar ſignation; ſince that beaſt had the honour to bear our Saviour on his back.

12. (obsolete) A boundary or limit; a border.
    • c. 1597 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The History of Henrie the Fourth; […], quarto edition, London: […] P[eter] S[hort] for Andrew Wise, […], published 1598, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:

      [W]ere it good / […] to ſet ſo rich a maine / On the nice hazard of one doubtfull houre? / It were not good for therein ſhould we read / The very bottome and the ſoule of hope, / The very liſt, the very vtmost bound / Of all our fortunes.

      Is it good / […] to place so high a stake / On the risky hazard of one doubtful hour? / No, it would be no good for we would read into it that we had reached / The end of our hope, / The very limit, the very utmost boundary / Of all our luck.

• (enumeration or compilation of items): see Thesaurus:list

• (enumeration or compilation of items): see Thesaurus:list

list (third-person singular simple present lists, present participle listing, simple past and past participle listed)

1. (transitive) To create or recite a list.
2. (transitive) To place in listings.
   • 1993, Ooi Jin Bee, “The Tropical Rain Forest: Patterns of Exploitation and Trade”, in Tropical Deforestation: The Tyranny of Time, Singapore: Singapore University Press, →ISBN, page 62:

     As the export market for tropical hardwoods expanded, timber from tropical rain forests very rapidly became the dominant or major forest product, dominant to such an extent that trade figures often do not even list the minor forest products exported, or their value.

3. (transitive) To sew together, as strips of cloth, so as to make a show of colours, or to form a border.
4. (transitive) To cover with list, or with strips of cloth; to put list on; to stripe as if with list.

   to list a door

   • 1859, Alfred Tennyson, “Vivien”, in Idylls of the King, London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC, page 142:

     He raised his eyes and saw / The tree that shone white-listed thro' the gloom.

5. (transitive, agriculture) To plough and plant with a lister.
6. (transitive, agriculture, chiefly Southern US) To prepare (land) for a cotton crop by making alternating beds and alleys with a hoe.
7. (transitive, carpentry) To cut away a narrow strip, as of sapwood, from the edge of.

   to list a board

8. (transitive, military) To enclose (a field, etc.) for combat.
9. (transitive, obsolete) To engage a soldier, etc.; to enlist.
   • 1642 October 28, [Philip Morant], History and Antiquities of the Borough of Colchester, in the County of Essex. […], Colchester, Essex: Printed and sold by I. Marsden, [...], published 1810, →OCLC, pages 48–49:

     […] It is therefore ordered that the Maior and Aldermen of Colchester [et al.], shall forthwith procure and raise in the said severall townes, and other pleces adjacent, two thousand horses for dragooners, or as manie as possible they may, for the service as aforesaid, and with all possible speed to send them up to London unto Thomas Browne Grocer, and Maximilian Beard Girdler, by us appointed to list horses for the service aforesaid; […]

   • 1822, [Walter Scott], chapter IV, in Peveril of the Peak. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 107:

     "I have a gun, madam," said little Julian, "and the park-keeper is to teach me how to fire it next year." / "I will list you for my soldier, then," said the Countess.

10. (intransitive, obsolete) To engage in public service by enrolling one's name; to enlist.
11. To give a building of architectural or historical interest listed status; see also the adjective listed.
    • 2021 February 15, Robin Leleux, “Awards honour the best restoration projects: The London Underground Operational Enhancement Award: Hanwell”, in RAIL, number 946, page 55:

      A century later, BR demolished the downside main buildings, so the eastbound and central platforms were promptly listed - which has ensured their survival, albeit increasingly neglected in recent years. This has now been rectified, [...].

• (create or recite a list): tabulate; see also Thesaurus:tick off

From Middle English list, liste (“ability, cleverness, cunning, skill; adroitness, dexterity; strategem, trick; device, design, token”), from Old English list (“art, craft; cleverness, cunning, experience, skill”),[2] from Proto-West Germanic *listi, from Proto-Germanic *listiz (“art, craft”), from Proto-Indo-European *leys-, *leyǝs- (“furrow, trace, track, trail”).

The word is cognate with Dutch list (“artifice, guile, sleight; ruse, strategem”), German List (“cunning, guile; ploy, ruse, trick”), Low German list (“artifice, cunning; prudence, wisdom”), Icelandic list (“art”), Saterland Frisian list (“cunning, knowledge”), Scots list (“art, craft, skill; cunning”), Swedish list (“art; cunning, guile, wile; ruse, trick; stealth”), and possibly Spanish listo (“clever”). It is also related to learn, lore.

list (uncountable)

1. (archaic) Art; craft; cunning; skill.
   • 1877 November 16, “Vaticanism”, in The Literary World. Choice Readings from the Best New Books, and Critical Reviews, volume XVI, number 420 (New Series), London: James Clarke & Co., […], →OCLC, page 313, column 3:

     In discussing the Syllabus and the last dogma of 1870, so much must be allowed for Italian list and cunning, or a word-fence. An Englishman, with his matter-of-fact way of putting things, is no match for these gentry.

   • 1893, S[olomon] C[aesar] Malan, chapter XXVI, in Original Notes on the Book of Proverbs. Mostly from Eastern Writings, volumes III (Ch. xxi.–xxxi.), London: Williams and Norgate, […], →OCLC, page 349:

     Sophos, fab[le] 40. "The foxes had heard that the fowls were sick, and went to see them decked in peacock's feathers; said of men who speak friendly, but only with list or cunning within."

   • 1897, Lilian Winser, “Lossenbury Woods”, in Lays and Legends of the Weald of Kent, London: Elkin Mathews, […], →OCLC, page 44:

     For when the guileful monster smiled / Snakes left their holes and hissed,— / And stroking soft his silken beard / Raised creatures full of list.

   • 1990, Alexander L. Ringer, “The Rise of Urban Musical Life between the Revolutions, 1789–1848”, in Alexander [L.] Ringer, editor, The Early Romantic Era: Between Revolutions: 1789 and 1848 (Man and Music; 6), Basingstoke, Hampshire, London: The Macmillan Press, →DOI, →ISBN, figure 13, caption, page 22:

     'The general bass, in its fixed lines, is taken by surprise and overwhelmed by List [[Franz] Liszt]' (List = cunning); anonymous lithograph (c 1842).

   • 1992, Reading Medieval Studies: Annual Proceedings of the Graduate Centre for Medieval Studies in the University of Reading, [Reading, Berkshire]: Graduate Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Reading, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 92:

     [Der] Pleier […] provides a 'courtly corrective' to Daniel in the shape of his hero, Garel. The latter wins his fight not by list but through straightforward knightly prowess, […]

   • 2000, Jakov Ljubarskij, “John Kinnamos as a Writer”, in Cordula Scholz, Georgios Makris, editors, ΠΟΛΥΠΛΕΥΡΟΣ ΝΟΥΣ [POLYPLEUROS NOUS]: Miscellanea für Peter Schreiner zu seinem 60. Geburtstag [VERSATILE MIND: Miscellanea for Peter Schreiner for His 60th Birthday] (Byzantinisches Archiv [Byzantine Archive]; 19), Munich, Leipzig: K[laus] G[erhard] Saur, →ISBN, footnote 11, page 166:

     It is worth noting that, contrary to Alexios who according to his daughter did not scruple to use any tricks to achieve his goal, Manuel [I Komnenos], as depicted by [John] Kinnamos, preferred "to win by war rather than by list" […].

   • 2008, Jon B. Sherman, The Magician in Medieval German Literature (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation), Urbana, Champaign, Ill.: University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, →OCLC:

     One man can accomplish with list (magic), that which a thousand could not accomplish, regardless of how strong they were.

• See Thesaurus:cunning

From Middle English listen, from Old English hlystan (“to listen”), from hlyst (“hearing”), from Proto-West Germanic *hlusti, from Proto-Germanic *hlustiz (“hearing”).

list (third-person singular simple present lists, present participle listing, simple past and past participle list)

1. (intransitive, poetic) To listen.
   • c. 1606–1607, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii], page 359, column 1:

     2 [Soldier] Peace, what noiſe? / 1 [Soldier] Liſt liſt. / 2 Hearke. / 1 Music i' th' Ayre.

   • 1860–1861, “What of the Night?”, in Frank Moore, editor, The Rebellion Record: A Diary of American Events, with Documents, Narratives, Illustrative Incidents, Poetry, etc., volume II, New York, N.Y.: G[eorge] P[almer] Putnam, […], published 1862, →OCLC, page 96, column 1:

     We list to the trumpings that herald the storm, / To the roll of the drum, and the order to form!

   • 1865, Sophocles, “Philoctetes”, in E[dward] H[ayes] Plumptre, transl., The Tragedies of Sophocles: A New Translation, with a Biographical Essay, volume II, London, New York, N.Y.: Alexander Strahan, publisher, →OCLC, page 247, line 1267:

     Be of good cheer, and list to what I speak.

2. (transitive, poetic) To listen to.
   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (Second Quarto), London: […] I[ames] R[oberts] for N[icholas] L[ing] […], published 1604, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:

     Then way what loſſe your honor may ſuſtaine / If with too credent eare you liſt his ſongs / Or looſe your hart, or your chaſt treaſure open / To his vnmaſtred importunity.

From Middle English listen, list, liste, leste, lesten (“to choose, desire, wish (to do something)”), from Old English lystan,[3] from Proto-West Germanic *lustijan, from Proto-Germanic *lustijaną, from Proto-Germanic *lustuz (“pleasure”).

The word is cognate with Saterland Frisian läste (“to wish for, desire, crave”), West Frisian lêste (“to like, desire”), Dutch lusten (“to appreciate, like; to lust”), German lüsten, gelüsten (“to desire, want, crave”), Danish lyste (“to desire, feel like, want”), Faroese lysta (“to desire”).

The noun sense is from the verb, or from Middle English list, liste, lest, leste (“desire, wish; craving, longing; enjoyment, joy, pleasure”), which is derived from Middle English listen, list (verb).[4]

list (third-person singular simple present lists, present participle listing, simple past and past participle listed)

1. (transitive, archaic) To desire, like, or wish (to do something).
   • c. 1536-1542, Thomas Wyatt, “Yf in the world ther be more woo”, in Egerton MS 2711‎, page 63r:

     who liſt to lyue yn quyetnes
     by me lett hym beware
     For I by highe dyſdayne
     ame made withoute redreſſe
     and vnkyndenes Alas hathe ſlayne
     my poore trew hart all comfortles

   • 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], page 12, column 2:

     If thou beeſt a man, ſhew thy ſelfe in thy likeneſs. If thou beeſt a diuell, take't as thou liſt.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, John 3:8:

     The winde bloweth where it liſteth, and thou heareſt the ſound thereof, but canſt not tel whence it commeth, and whither it goeth: So is euery one that is borne of the Spirit.

   • 1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC; reprinted in The Pilgrim’s Progress (The Noel Douglas Replicas), London: Noel Douglas, […], 1928, →OCLC, page 206:

     What! would you have us truſt to what Chriſt in his own perſon has done without us! This conceit would looſen the reines of our luſt, and tollerate us to live as we liſt: For what matter how we live, if we may be Juſtified by Chriſts perſonal righteouſneſs from all, when we believe it?

   • 1843 April, Thomas Carlyle, “Unworking Aristocracy”, in Past and Present, American edition, Boston, Mass.: Charles C[offin] Little and James Brown, published 1843, →OCLC, book III (The Modern Worker), page 177:

     Ye are as gods, that can create soil. Soil-creating gods there is no withstanding. They have the might to sell wheat at what price they list; and the right, to all lengths, and famine-lengths,—if they be pitiless infernal gods!

   • 1881, Aeschylus, “Agamemnon”, in E[dmund] D[oidge] A[nderson] Morshead, transl., The House of Atreus: Being The Agamemnon, Libation-bearers, and Furies of Æschylus. Translated into English Verse, London: Simpkin and Marshall, […]; Winchester, Hampshire: Warren and Son, […], →OCLC, pages 65–66:

     Ye hold me as a woman, weak of will, / And strive to sway me: but my heart is stout, / Nor fears to speak its uttermost to you, / Albeit ye know its message. Praise or blame, / Even as ye list,—I reck not of your words.

   • 1959, Leo Strauss, “What is Political Philosophy?”, in What is Political Philosophy?: And Other Studies, Glencoe, Ill.: The Free Press, →OCLC, page 51:

     License consists in doing what one lists; liberty consists in doing in the right manner the good only; and our knowledge of the good must come from a higher principle, from above.

   • 1994, John [Wyon] Burrow, The Historian: The Magazine for Members of the Historical Association, London: The Historical Association, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 176, column 2:

     The spirit seemed to blow where it listed among a historically motley collection of Catholic theologians, Puritan zealots and American squires.

2. (transitive, archaic) To be pleasing to.
   • 2016, Graydon Saunders, chapter 13, in Safely You Deliver:

     Might then I depart, and dwell as listeth me, out of all the world?

list

1. (obsolete) Desire, inclination.
   • c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragœdy of Othello, the Moore of Venice. […] (First Quarto), London: […] N[icholas] O[kes] for Thomas Walkley, […], published 1622, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 24:

     I know too much: / I finde it, I; for when I ha liſt to ſleepe, / Mary, before your Ladiſhip I grant, / She puts her tongue alittle in her heart, / And chides with thinking.

     I know, [she talks] too much: / I find that, when I have desire to sleep. / Indeed, before your Ladyship I admit, / She keeps a little quiet, / And scolds me with her thoughts.

• listful
• listless

Uncertain;[5] possibly from tilting on lists in jousts,[6] or from Etymology 4 in the sense of inclining towards what one desires.[7]

list (plural lists)

1. (architecture) A tilt to a building.
2. (nautical) A careening or tilting to one side, usually not intentionally or under a vessel's own power. [from early 17th c.]

list (third-person singular simple present lists, present participle listing, simple past and past participle listed)

1. (transitive, nautical) To cause (something) to tilt to one side. [from early 17th c.]

   the steady wind listed the ship

2. (intransitive, nautical) To tilt to one side. [from early 17th c.]

   the ship listed to port

   • 2000, Bob Foster, Birdum or Bust!, Henley Beach, SA: Seaview Press, page 173:

     Even a small camber one way caused the whole outfit to list alarmingly.

• list (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “list”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “list”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “list”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

• &lits, lits, silt, slit, tils

From English list.

• Also pronounced as IPA^(key): /lɪs⁵⁵/

list

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) list; enumeration or compilation of items; the paper or document of which the list is written or printed on (Classifier: 個／个 c; 張／张 c; 條／条 c)

list

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) to list; to create a list of items

Inherited from Old Czech list, from Proto-Slavic *listъ (“leaf”).

• IPA^(key): [ˈlɪst]

• audio

  (file)

list m inan

1. leaf (green and flat organ of vegetative plants)
2. (archaic) letter (written message)

   Synonyms: dopis, psaní

3. sheet (sheet of paper)
4. newspaper

   Polský list Dziennik Gazeta Prawna nejdříve napsal, že polská hlava státu podepíše dokument ve středu. (iDNES)

5. certificate (document containing a certified statement)

   rodný list ― birth certificate

   úmrtní list ― death certificate

• doklad
• dokument

• list in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• list in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989
• list in Internetová jazyková příručka

From Old Norse list, from Proto-Germanic *listiz (“craft, art, guide”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈlesd/, [ˈle̝st]

list c (singular definite listen, not used in plural form)

1. cunning, trick

list

1. imperative of liste

• “list” in Den Danske Ordbog

From Middle Dutch list, from Old Dutch list, from Proto-West Germanic *listi, from Proto-Germanic *listiz.

• IPA^(key): /lɪst/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: list
• Rhymes: -ɪst

list f (plural listen, diminutive listje n)

1. a cunning plan, a ruse, a trick

• listig

• Afrikaans: lis
• Negerhollands: list

• silt, stil

From Old Norse list, from Proto-Germanic *listiz.

• IPA^(key): /lɪst/
• Rhymes: -ɪst
• Homophone: lyst

list f (genitive singular listar, plural listir)

1. art

From Old Norse list, from Proto-Germanic *listiz.

• IPA^(key): /lɪst/
• Rhymes: -ɪst
• Homophone: lyst

list f (genitive singular listar, nominative plural listir)

1. art

   Þetta er ekki list!

   That's not art!

2. skill

   Hann bjó til brúðkaupstertu af mikilli list

   he made a wedding tart with great skill

• slit

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *listъ (“leaf”).

• IPA^(key): /list/, [lʲist]

list m inan (diminutive listk)

1. leaf, foliage
2. letter (a written message)

Inherited from Old Polish list.

• IPA^(key): [ˈlist]
• Syllabification: list

list m inan (diminutive listek)

1. (chiefly in the plural, sometimes collective) leaf (part of a plant)
2. letter (written or printed communication)

• Zofia Stamirowska (1987-2024) chapter 45, in Anna Basara, editor, Słownik gwar Ostródzkiego, Warmii i Mazur‎, Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich Wydawnictwo Polskiej Akademii Nauk, →ISBN, page 4

From Old Norse list.

list m or f (definite singular lista or listen)

1. cunning, craftiness, slyness
2. skirting board

list

1. imperative of liste

• “list” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

From Old Norse list.

list f (definite singular lista)

1. cunning, craftiness, slyness

• “list” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *lȋstъ.

• IPA^(key): (13^th CE) /ˈlist/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /ˈlist/

list m inan

1. leaf (part of a plant)
2. sheet; page (flat, thin piece of parchment n. other material intended for writing)
3. (biblical) phylactery (box with scrolls of Old Testament quotations, attached by Jews to the forehead n. to the forearm during prayer)
4. letter (written or printed communication)
5. (administration) letter; deed (administrative document authorizing something n. testifying to something)
6. (anatomy) uvula
7. letter (character of writing)
8. sheet, place; slice (long piece of i.e. metal)
9. (singular only) plates (protective clothing of the upper part of the torso)

• Czech: list

• Jan Gebauer (1903–1916) “list”, in Slovník staročeský (in Czech), Prague: Česká grafická společnost "unie", Česká akademie císaře Františka Josefa pro vědy, slovesnost a umění

From Proto-West Germanic *listi. Cognate with Old Saxon list, Dutch list, Old High German list (German List), Old Norse list (Swedish list).

• IPA^(key): /list/

list m or f

1. art; cunning, guile, craft

• Middle English: liste
  • Scots: list
  • English: list

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *lȋstъ. First attested in the 14th century.

• IPA^(key): (10^th–15^th CE) /lʲist/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /lʲist/

list m inan (related adjective listowy)

1. leaf (part of a plant)
   • 1939 [end of the 14th century], Ryszard Ganszyniec, Witold Taszycki, Stefan Kubica, Ludwik Bernacki, editors, Psałterz florjański łacińsko-polsko-niemiecki [Sankt Florian Psalter]‎, Zakład Narodowy imienia Ossolińskich, z zasiłkiem Sejmu Śląskiego [The Ossoliński National Institute: with the benefit of the Silesian Parliament], pages 1, 4:

     A bødze (sc. mąż) iaco drzewo, iesz szczepono iest podlug czekøcych wod..., a list iego ne spadne (folium eius non defluet)

     [A będzie (sc. mąż) jako drzewo, jeż szczepiono jest podług ciekących wod..., a list jego nie spadnie (folium eius non defluet)]

   • 1930 [c. 1455], “Gen”, in Ludwik Bernacki, editor, Biblia królowej Zofii (Biblia szaroszpatacka)‎, 8, 11:

     Genze (sc. gołąbek) *szo zaszø wroczyl s olywowim zzelonim listem w swich vszczyech (portans ramum olivae virentibus foliis in ore suo)

     [Jenże (sc. gołąbek) się zasię wrocił s oliwowym z zielonym listem w swych uściech (portans ramum olivae virentibus foliis in ore suo)]

   • 1930 [c. 1455], “Lev”, in Ludwik Bernacki, editor, Biblia królowej Zofii (Biblia szaroszpatacka)‎, 23, 40:

     Weszmyecze sobye... lyst palmovi (spatulas palmarum) a rosgy z drzewa gøstich latorosly

     [Weźmiecie sobie... list palmowy (spatulas palmarum), a rozgi z drzewa gęstych latorośli]

   • 1878-1889 [1487], Archiwum Komisji Historycznej‎, volume III, Greater Poland, page 350:

     Te... stirpi Godzambą... aggregamus... In cuius signum... tibi... largimur tres pinus... in scuto seu campo flaueo, galea vero in inferiori parte listi supertecta

     [Te... stirpi Godzięba... aggregamus... In cuius signum... tibi... largimur tres pinus... in scuto seu campo flaueo, galea vero in inferiori parte listy supertecta]

2. letter (written correspondance)
   • Beginning of the 15th century, Łukasz z Wielkiego Koźmina, Kazania gnieźnieńskie‎, Krakow, page 184v:

     Svøthy Gan... do... opatha dalcy mu gest on lysth byl

     [Święty Jan... do... opata dałci mu jest on list był]

   • 1449, Gałka Jędrzej z Dobczyna (Dobszyna), Pieśń o Wiklefie‎, Głogówek, line 58:

     Szwiąti Pawel z lista rzekl: Zabicz anticrista slowem Ihesu Krista

     [Święty Paweł z Lista rzekł: Zabić Antykrysta słowem Jesu Krysta]

3. (law) legal document (something that establishes or confirms something)
   • 1959 [1390], Henryk Kowalewicz, Władysław Kuraszkiewicz, editors, Wielkopolskie roty sądowe XIV-XV wieku, Roty poznańskie, volume I, number 79, Poznań:

     [J]akom przi tem bil, isz Micolay slubil mi list [wro]czicz, isz gim sze zaluge

     [[J]akom przy tem był, iż Mikołaj ślubił mi list [wro]cić, iż jim sie żałuje]

   • c. 1500, Wokabularz lubiński, inkunabuł Archiwum Archidiecezjalnego w Gnieźnie, sygn. Inc. 78d., page 136r:

     Tenor [obmya] obmavyanye Inde dicimus: Tenore presencium obmavyanym nynyeschych lystow vel podlvg vylozenya nynyeyschych lystow

   • c. 1500, Wokabularz lubiński, inkunabuł Archiwum Archidiecezjalnego w Gnieźnie, sygn. Inc. 78d., page 65r:

     Inclusiue computando a data presencium lato pyrzve y poslednye lyczacz od vydanya thego tho lysthą

4. sheet (piece of paper)
   • 1930 [c. 1455], “Tob”, in Ludwik Bernacki, editor, Biblia królowej Zofii (Biblia szaroszpatacka)‎, 7, 16:

     Wszøw (sc. Raguel) lyst, podle tego tedi prawa vcziny zapys malzenski (accepta charta fecerunt conscriptionem coniugii)

     [Wziąw (sc. Raguel) list, podle tego tedy prawa uczyni zapis małżeński (accepta charta fecerunt conscriptionem coniugii)]

• Masurian: list
• Polish: list
• Silesian: list

• Boryś, Wiesław (2005) “list”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego (in Polish), Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie, →ISBN
• Sławski, Franciszek (1958-1965) “list”, in Jan Safarewicz, Andrzej Siudut, editors, Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego [Etymological dictionary of the Polish language] (in Polish), Kraków: Towarzystwo Miłośników Języka Polskiego
• Mańczak, Witold (2017) “list”, in Polski słownik etymologiczny (in Polish), Kraków: Polska Akademia Umiejętności, →ISBN
• Bańkowski, Andrzej (2000) “list”, in Etymologiczny słownik języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish)
• B. Sieradzka-Baziur, editor (2011–2015), “list”, in Słownik pojęciowy języka staropolskiego [Conceptual Dictionary of Old Polish] (in Polish), Kraków: IJP PAN, →ISBN
• Ewa Deptuchowa, Mariusz Frodyma, Katarzyna Jasińska, Magdalena Klapper, Dorota Kołodziej, Mariusz Leńczuk, Ludwika Szelachowska-Winiarzowa, Zofia Wanicowa, editors (2023), “list”, in Rozariusze z polskimi glosami. Internetowa baza danych [Dictionaries of Polish glosses, an Internet database] (in Polish), Kraków: Pracownia Języka Staropolskiego Instytut Języka Polskiego Polskiej Akademii Nauk

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *lȋstъ. First attested in 1407.

list m inan

1. leaf (part of a plant)
2. scale; petal
3. sheet (rectangular piece of paper intended for writing)
4. letter (written message addressed to a person, office, institution)
5. (administration, law) official document
6. sheet (material on which things are fixed)
7. thin plate or sheet (piece of i.e. metal)

• Slovak: list

• Majtán, Milan et al., editors (1991–2008), “list”, in Historický slovník slovenského jazyka [Historical Dictionary of the Slovak Language] (in Slovak), volumes 1–7 (A – Ž), Bratislava: VEDA, →OCLC

From Old Norse list, from Proto-Germanic *listiz.

• IPA^(key): /list/

list f

1. skill, proficiency
2. art, craft
3. cunning, slyness
4. resort

• Swedish: list

• IPA^(key): /list/
• (Middle Polish) IPA^(key): /ˈlist/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ist
• Syllabification: list

Inherited from Old Polish list. Sense 3 was displaced by liść.

list m inan (diminutive liścik, related adjective listowy)

1. letter (written or printed communication)
2. letter (paper on which such a communication is written)
3. (obsolete) leaf (part of a plant)
4. (obsolete) petal; slice; plaque; layer (long, flat piece of something)
   1. (Middle Polish) sheet (long, flat piece of paper)
5. (obsolete, in the plural) leaves (pages of a book)
6. (obsolete) paper tracking financial interest
7. (Middle Polish) The meaning of this term is uncertain.
   • 1551, S. Murzynowski, Ortografija polska‎, page B2v:

     1 láſka leży/ liſty/ liſzka.