lait

Definition

To seek; search for; inquire.

Etymology

From Middle English laiten, leiten, from Old Norse leita (“to seek, search, inquire”), from Proto-Germanic *wlaitōną (“to look out, see”), from Proto-Indo-European *wel- (“to see”). Cognate with Norwegian Nynorsk leita (“to search”), Icelandic leita (“to search”), Swedish leta (“to search, hunt, forage”), Old English wlātian (“to gaze, observe, look upon, behold”).

Example Sentences

• "By neeght, o' my bed, I laited him, at my sowl luvs : I laited him, but I dudn't find um."
• "The other day I heard a girl hailing from the moorlands of Yorkshire remark that she had "laited a long time for the children, but could not find them," evidently meaning she had sought for them. Is this word common to Yorkshire?"