little

Meaning

Adj

1. Small in size.
2. Small in size.
3. Insignificant, trivial.
4. (offensive) Insignificant, trivial.
5. Very young, of childhood age.
6. Younger.
7. (capitalized, often) 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. (capitalized, derogatory, often) 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. (capitalized, often) Operating on a small scale.
11. Short in duration; brief.
12. Small in extent of views or sympathies; narrow, shallow, contracted; mean, illiberal, ungenerous.

Adv

1. Not much.
2. Not at all.

Det

Not much, only a little: only a small amount (of).

Pron

Not much; not a large amount.

Noun

1. (singular, uncountable) A small amount.
2. (countable, informal) A child, particularly an infant.
3. (countable) An adult in a child-like role, or in the more junior of two paired roles.
4. (countable) An adult in a child-like role, or in the more junior of two paired roles.
5. (countable) An adult in a child-like role, or in the more junior of two paired roles.
6. (abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable) Ellipsis of little go (“type of examination”).

Opposite of

big

Synonyms

small

few

🤏

tiny

slight

bit

slightly

short

some

young

diminutive

insignificant

minute

a little

not much

small quantity

somewhat

not many

trivial

less

scanty

petty

paltry

wee

trifling

minor

limited

meagre

light

a bit

low

a little bit

scarce

piddling

petite

unimportant

negligible

narrow

fine

poor

not large

nickel-and-dime

minuscule

miniature

niggling

footling

mean

rare

scant

pygmy

humble

Translations

petit

poco

pequeño

klein

wenig

peu

piccolo

poco

klein

pequeno

μικρός

petit

chico

weinig

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈlɪtl̩/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: litel

Inherited from Old English: lyttel

Cognate with Dutch: luttel

Cognate with German: lütt

Cognate with Saterland Frisian: litje

Cognate with Western Frisian: lyts

Cognate with Low German: lütt

Cognate with Old English: lūtan

Cognate with Old English: lytiġ

Cognate with Gothic: 𐌻𐌹𐌿𐍄𐍃

Cognate with Icelandic: lítill

Cognate with Faroese: lítil

Cognate with Swedish: liten

Cognate with Danish: liden

Cognate with Gothic: 𐌻𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌹𐌻𐍃

In summary

From Middle English litel, from Old English lyttel, lȳtel, from Proto-West Germanic *lūtil, from Proto-Germanic *lūtilaz (“tending to stoop, crouched, little”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewd- (“to bend, bent, small”), equivalent to lout + -le. Cognate with Dutch luttel, regional German lütt and lützel, Saterland Frisian litje, West Frisian lyts, Low German lütt, lüttje. Related also to Old English lūtan (“to bow, bend low”); and perhaps to Old English lytiġ (“deceitful”), Gothic 𐌻𐌹𐌿𐍄𐍃 (liuts, “deceitful”); compare also Icelandic lítill (“little”), Faroese lítil, Swedish liten, Danish liden, lille, Gothic 𐌻𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌹𐌻𐍃 (leitils), which appear to have a different root vowel. More at lout.

Sentences

But you were a little girl .

There was very little talking .

Fly by night and you waste little time .

It seemed such a little thing , so bright and small and still .

I found a little crowd of about twenty people surrounding the huge hole .

One can imagine these two , covered with sand , running up the little street in the bright sunlight .