last

1. late => last.
2. last其实是late的最高级latest的简化变体. 所以其含义自然也就一目了然、显而易见了。

last 最后的

缩写自latest,最后的，late的原最高级拼写形式。

last 坚持，持续，鞋楦

来自PIE*leis,踩踏，小径，犁沟，词源同learn,lore.引申词义坚持，持续，同时用于指鞋楦。

last

last: [OE] Modern English has three separate words last, two of which are related. The adjective, meaning ‘after all others’, originated in prehistoric Germanic as the superlative form of late; its modern Germanic relatives include German letzt and Dutch laatst. The verb last ‘continue’ goes back to a prehistoric Germanic *laistjan ‘follow a track’, which also produced modern German leisten ‘perform, afford’.

This was derived from *laisti-, as was ultimately the noun last, which in Old English meant ‘footprint’ (‘shoemaker’s model foot’ is a secondary development). The general semantic thread ‘following a track’ can be traced back further via Germanic *lais- (a variant of which gave English learn) to Indo-European *leis- (source of Latin dēlīrāre, literally ‘deviate from a straight track’, from which English gets delirious [18]).
=> delirious, late, learn

last (adj., adv.)

"following all others," from Old English latost (adj.) and lætest (adv.), superlative of læt (see late). Cognate with Old Frisian lest, Dutch laatst, Old High German laggost, German letzt. Meaning "most recent" is from c. 1200. The noun, "last person or thing," is c. 1200, from the adjective. Last hurrah is from the title of Edwin O'Connor's 1956 novel. Last word "final, definitive statement" is from 1650s. A dying person's last words so called by 1740. As an adjective, last-minute attested from 1913. Last-chance (adj.) is from 1962.

last (v.)

"endure, go on existing," from Old English læstan "to continue, endure," earlier "accomplish, carry out," literally "to follow a track," from Proto-Germanic *laistjan "to follow a track" (cognates: Gothic laistjan "to follow," Old Frisian lasta "to fulfill, to pay (duties)," German leisten "to perform, achieve, afford"), from PIE *leis- (1) "track, furrow" (see learn).

Related to last (n.), not to last (adj.). Related: Lasted; lasting.

last (n.)

"shoemaker's block," from Old English læste, from last "track, footprint, trace," from Proto-Germanic *laist- (cognates: Old Norse leistr "the foot," Middle Dutch, Dutch leest "form, model, last," Old High German leist "track, footprint," German Leisten "last," Gothic laistjan "to follow," Old English læran "to teach"); see last (v.).

1. A fellow doesn't last long on what he has done. He's got to keep on delivering as he goes along.--Carl Hubbell, Baseball Player

靠过去完成的无法让人保有成功，必须在路上持续交出成绩。

2. Friendship means understanding, not agreement. It means forgiveness, not forgetting.It means the memories last, even if contact is lost.

友情是理解，不是妥协；是原谅，不是遗忘。即使不联系，感情依然在。

3. She ran away with a man called McTavish last year.

去年，她和一个叫麦克塔维什的男人私奔了。

4. I picked first all the people who usually were left till last.

我先挑出了所有通常留到最后的人。

5. The Liberal Democrat'ssupport fell away at the last minute.

自由民主党的支持率在最后一刻有所下降。

【final, last, ultimate, latest】
final: 最后的，指在一系列的事物中是最后的，而且是结论性的，决定性的。如：The judgment has become final.(这已是最后的判断。)
last: 最后的，与first相对，还可指“上一次的”。如：My seat is in the last row.
ultimate: 最终的，最后的，用于正式场合，含有最高的和最有权威的结果。如：He never considered the ultimate result of his action.(他从未考虑其行为的后果。)
latest: 最近的，指时间上。如：the latest news(最新消息)

【last, continue, endure, persist】
这组词都有“持续”的意思，其区别是：
last: 着重存在的时间相当长，超过正常的或所期望的时间。
continue: 多指过程，强调持续而无终止，常含不间断之意。
endure: 与last同义，但还指经受住，有能耐忍受而并不受损。
persist: 强调超过了指定的或正常的时间。