less
advEtymology
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.
Definitions
comparative degree of little
- I slept even less last night than I did the night before.
- I like him less each time I see him.
- All my cares grew less until completely gone.
Used for constructing syntactic diminutive comparatives of adjectives and adverbs.
- Randal is less welcome than Rachel but as her spouse we should invite them both.
- This gadget is less useful than I expected.
- I'm not any less happy for being on my own.
To a smaller extent or degree.
- The grammar book was less than (that is, not at all) helpful.
- That this is a positive one makes it no less a stereotype, and therefore unacceptable.
›+ 10 more definitionsshow fewer
comparative form of little
comparative form of little: more little; of inferior size, degree or extent; smaller, lesser.
- Those Rattels are somewhat like the chape of a Rapier, but lesse, which they take from the taile of a snake.
- We are likewise ready to maintain with the hazard of all that is near and dear to us, that six is less than seven in all times and all places […].
A smaller amount of
A smaller amount of; not as much.
- No less than eight pints of beer.
- I have less tea than coffee.
- You have even less sense than an inanimate object.
Fewer
Fewer; a smaller number of.
- There are less people here now.
- Now there are three less green bottles hanging on the wall.
- I thinke there are few Vniuersities that haue lesse faultes than Oxford, many that haue more.
Minus
Minus; not including
- It should then tax all of that as personal income, less the proportion of the car's annual mileage demonstrably clocked up on company business.
To make less
To make less; to lessen.
- 1386-90, Gower, Confessio Amantis What he will make lesse, he lesseth.
- The protracted term of life, and the lingering illness through which this gentleman had passed, had neither impaired the original vigour of his mind, nor lessed the uncommon warmth of his affections.
Lesser
Lesser; smaller.
- Such too, to a greater or less extent, is the condition of the operatives of every denomination in England, which is the great workhouse of the world.
- This he said, thinking that Alan would be pleased; but the Highlandman’s vanity was ready to startle at a less matter than that.
A smaller amount or quantity.
- Less is better.
- I have less to do today than yesterday.
unless
- To tell you true, 'tis too good for you, 'less you had grace to follow it
Alternative form of let's.
plural of LES
The neighborhood
Vish — recursive loop
A definitional loop anchored at less. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.
A definitional loop anchored at less. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.
9 hops · closes at less
curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA