/luːz/
[verb] To no longer have something, or to fail to win a game, competition, or argument. It can also mean to be unable to find something or someone.
The word 'lose' once meant to be destroyed completely — not just to misplace your keys.
The word 'lose' comes from Old English 'losian', which meant to be destroyed, to perish, or to become ruined. This was a strong and serious word — it did not simply mean to misplace something small. When the Anglo-Saxons used it, they meant a total and often permanent loss, like the destruction of a battle or the ruin of a life. The root behind it is the Proto-Germanic word 'lausaz', which carried the sense of something being released, loosened, or set free — often in a violent or final way.
That Proto-Germanic root 'lausaz' is connected to a much older ancestor, the Proto-Indo-European root 'leu-', which meant to cut, to separate, or to untie. This ancient root gave rise to words across many European languages, all sharing the idea of things coming apart or being set loose. It is a reminder that what we think of as simple everyday words often carry very ancient, serious meanings underneath.
In Old English, 'losian' worked alongside another verb, 'leosan', which also meant to lose or be deprived of something. Over time, these two forms slowly merged in Middle English, and by around the 12th and 13th centuries, the language was settling on 'losen' or 'losen' as the standard form. The spelling and pronunciation gradually shifted until the modern 'lose' emerged, with its long 'oo' sound that sometimes confuses learners today.
One of the most interesting things about 'lose' is its close family of related words in English. The Old English 'losian' is connected to 'loose', which came into Middle English from Old Norse 'lauss', meaning free or untied — itself from the same Proto-Germanic 'lausaz' root. So 'lose' and 'loose' are genuine cousins, sharing the same ancient ancestor. This is part of why they are so often confused in modern writing, even though they now have very different meanings and pronunciations.
The meaning of 'lose' broadened considerably over the centuries. From its original sense of total destruction or ruin, it expanded to cover the idea of failing to win a competition — a meaning that became especially prominent as organised sports and games grew in importance during the medieval and early modern periods. It also developed the everyday sense of misplacing an object, losing one's way, or losing a person from your life. What began as a word for catastrophe quietly softened into something we use dozens of times a day without a second thought.