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few

det
/fjuː//fjʉː/UK

Etymology

From Middle English fewe, from Old English fēaw (“few”), from Proto-West Germanic *fau, from Proto-Germanic *fawaz (“few”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- (“few, small”). Cognate with Old Saxon fā (“few”), Old High German fao, fō (“few, little”), Old Norse fár (“few”), Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌿𐍃 (faus, “few”). Also related with Latin paucus (“little, few”) and pauper (“poor”), from which latter English poor and pauper; see these.

  1. derived from *peh₂w-✻
  2. inherited from *fawaz✻ — “few”
  3. inherited from *fau✻
  4. inherited from fēaw — “few”
  5. inherited from fewe

Definitions

  1. An indefinite, but usually small, number of.

    • There are a few cars (=some, but a relatively small number) in the street.
    • Quite a few people (=a significant number) were pleasantly surprised.
    • I think he's had a few drinks.

  2. Not many

    Not many; a small (in comparison with another number stated or implied) but somewhat indefinite number of.

    • Very few did she have not to go there, did she?
    • I was expecting a big crowd at the party, but very few people (=almost none) turned up.
    • Your men are valiant but their number few, And cannot terrifie his mightie hoſt, […]

  3. Obscuring one to two oktas (eighths) of the sky.

    • Tonight: A few clouds. Increasing cloudiness overnight.
  4. ›+ 4 more definitions

    1. (US?) Having a 10 percent chance of measurable precipitation (0.01 inch)

      (US?) Having a 10 percent chance of measurable precipitation (0.01 inch); used interchangeably with isolated.

    2. Few people, few things.

      • Many are called, but few are chosen.

    3. The pilots who fought in the Battle of Britain.

    4. A surname.

The neighborhood

Derived

a fair few, a few, a few clowns short of a circus, a few fries short of a Happy Meal, a few roos loose in the top paddock, a few spanners short of a tool box, a good few, cover-few, few and far between, few cards short of a full deck, few cards shy of a full deck, few-flowered sedge, fewfold, fewly, fewness, few sandwiches short of a picnic, few-shot, few-shot learning, have a few, have a few too many, in a few shakes, man of few words, precious few, pull a few strings, quite a few, some few, to name a few, woman of few words, you've got to crack a few eggs to make an omelette

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for few. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA