less

Signification

1. comparative degree of little
2. Used for constructing syntactic diminutive comparatives of adjectives and adverbs.
3. To a smaller extent or degree.

Fréquence

Prononcé comme (IPA)

/lɛs/

Étymologie

Adverb From Middle English les, lesse, leasse, lasse, from Old English lǣs (“smaller, less”), from Proto-Germanic *laisiz, from Proto-Indo-European *leys- (“to shrink, grow thin, be gentle”). Cognate with Old Frisian lēs (“less”), Old Saxon lēs (“less”). According to Kroonen (2013), from a northern Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *leh₂is- or *leh₃is-, which he connects to Lithuanian liesas (“lean”). Determiner and preposition from Middle English lees, lesse, leasse, lasse, from Old English lǣssa (“less”), from Proto-Germanic *laisizan-, from Proto-Germanic *laisiz (“smaller, lesser, fewer, lower”) (see above). Cognate with Old Frisian lessa (“less”). Verb from Middle English lessen, from the determiner. Noun from Middle English lesse, from the determiner.

Nouveau

little

1. Small in size.
2. Small in size.
3. Insignificant, trivial.
4. Insignificant, trivial.
5. Very young, of childhood age.
6. Younger.
7. Used with the name of a place, especially of a country or its capital, to denote a neighborhood whose residents or storekeepers are from that place.
8. Used with the name of a place, especially of a country or its capital, to denote a neighborhood whose residents or storekeepers are from that place.
9. Having few members.
10. Operating on a small scale.
11. Short in duration; brief.
12. Small in extent of views or sympathies; narrow, shallow, contracted; mean, illiberal, ungenerous.