Little etymology of the word

English word little comes from Proto-Germanic *-ilaz (Agent suffix.), Proto-Germanic *lūtaną (To bow down, lout.), Proto-Germanic — ilaz, Proto-Indo-European *lewd-

Detailed word origin of little

Dictionary entry Language Definition
*-ilaz Proto-Germanic (gem-pro) Agent suffix.
*lūtaną Proto-Germanic (gem-pro) To bow down, lout.
— ilaz Proto-Germanic (gem-pro)
*lewd- Proto-Indo-European (ine-pro)
*lūtilaz Proto-Germanic (gem-pro) Bent; tending to stoop; crouching. Little.
lȳtel Old English (ang)
lytel Old English (ang) Small, little.
litel Middle English (enm) Little (small; not large).
little English (eng) Not at all.. Not much. Not much, only a little: only a small amount (of). (of a sibling) Younger.. (offensive) Used to belittle a person.. Insignificant, trivial.. Short in duration; brief.. Small in amount or number, having few members.. Small in extent of views or sympathies; narrow; shallow; contracted; mean; illiberal; ungenerous.. Small in size.. Used with the name of place, especially […]

Words with the same origin as little

Источник

English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English litel, from Old English 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, West Frisian lyts, Low German lütt, Old High German luzzil, Middle High German lützel, Old English lūtan (“to bow, bend low”); and perhaps to Old English lytig (“deceitful, lot deceit”), Gothic 𐌻𐌹𐌿𐍄𐍃 (liuts, “deceitful”), 𐌻𐌿𐍄𐌾𐌰𐌽 (lutjan, “to deceive”); compare also Icelandic lítill (“little”), Swedish liten, Danish liden, lille, Gothic 𐌻𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌹𐌻𐍃 (leitils), which appear to have a different root vowel. More at lout.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈlɪtl̩/, [ˈlɪtʰɫ̩]
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈlɪt(ə)l/, [ˈlɪɾɫ̩], [ˈɫɪɾɫ̩]
  • (General Australian) IPA(key): [ˈlɪɾɫ̩]
  • (New Zealand) IPA(key): /ˈlɘtl̩/
  • Rhymes: -ɪtəl
  • Hyphenation: lit‧tle
  • Homophone: Littell

Adjective[edit]

little (comparative less or lesser or littler, superlative least or littlest)

  1. Small in size.

    This is a little table.

  2. Insignificant, trivial.

    • 2013 June 21, Chico Harlan, “Japan pockets the subsidy …”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 2, page 30:

      Across Japan, technology companies and private investors are racing to install devices that until recently they had little interest in: solar panels. Massive solar parks are popping up as part of a rapid build-up that one developer likened to an «explosion.»

    It’s of little importance.

    1. (offensive) Used to belittle a person.

      Listen up, you little shit.

  3. Very young.

    Did he tell you any embarrassing stories about when she was little?

    That’s the biggest little boy I’ve ever seen.

  4. (of a sibling) Younger.

    This is my little sister.

  5. (often capitalized) 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.
    • 1871 October 18, The One-eyed Philosopher [pseudonym], «Street Corners», in Judy: or the London serio-comic journal, volume 9, page 255 [1]:
      If you want to find Little France, take any turning on the north side of Leicester square, and wander in a zigzag fashion Oxford Streetwards. The Little is rather smokier and more squalid than the Great France upon the other side of the Manche.

    • 2004, Barry Miles, Zappa: A Biography, edition, published 2005, →ISBN, page 5:

      In the forties, hurdy-gurdy men could still be heard in all those East Coast cities with strong Italian neighbourhoods: New York, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Boston. A visit to Baltimore’s Little Italy at that time was like a trip to Italy itself.

    • 2020, Richa Bhosale, «Croatian Hall in need of repairs to remain open,» Timmins Daily Press:
      «The theatre was bought by the Croatian immigrants as so many immigrants came here in the ’30s and mostly for mining jobs, but in Schumacher itself it was called little Zagreb, and Zagreb is the capital city of Croatia. There were so many of them that they wanted to have their own little community, so they bought the theatre and they renovated it at that time, remodelled it and made it into a Croatian Hall,» she explained.
    1. (derogatory) To imply that the inhabitants of the place have an insular attitude and are hostile to those they perceive as foreign.
      • 2012, Comedian Steve Coogan on Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre, «He is the embodiment of Fleet Street bullying, using his newspaper to peddle his Little-England, curtain-twitching Alan Partridgesque view of the world, which manages to combine sanctimonious, pompous moralising and prurient, voyeuristic, judgmental obsession».
  6. Having few members.

    little herd

  7. (of an industry or other field, or institution(s) therein, often capitalized) Operating on a small scale.
    Little Steel (smaller steel companies, as contrasted with Big Steel)
    Little Science (science performed by individuals or small teams, as contrasted with Big Science)
  8. Short in duration; brief.
    I feel better after my little sleep.
  9. Small in extent of views or sympathies; narrow; shallow; contracted; mean; illiberal; ungenerous.
    • The long-necked geese of the world that are ever hissing dispraise, / Because their natures are little.
    • 2001, Nicholas Petsalis-Diomidis, The Unknown Callas: the Greek Years, pg 547.
      Showing unmistakably what a little person he really was, in June 1949 he wrote his newly married daughter with nauseating disregard for the truth

Usage notes[edit]

Some authorities regard both littler and littlest as non-standard. The OED says of the word little: «the adjective has no recognized mode of comparison. The difficulty is commonly evaded by resort to a synonym (as smaller, smallest); some writers have ventured to employ the unrecognized forms littler, littlest, which are otherwise confined to dialect or imitations of childish or illiterate speech.» The forms lesser and least are encountered in animal names such as lesser flamingo and least weasel.

Antonyms[edit]

  • (small): large, big
  • (young): big
  • (younger): big

Derived terms[edit]

  • a little bit of bread and no cheese
  • a little of the creature
  • LBFM
  • little auk
  • Little Barford
  • Little Belt
  • Little Billington
  • little bluestem
  • Little Bookham
  • Little Bourton
  • Little Bowden
  • little boys’ room
  • little brother
  • little by little
  • Little Bytham
  • little cassino
  • Little Chalfont
  • Little Chesterford
  • Little Christmas
  • little corella
  • little did one know
  • Little Dipper
  • little dog syndrome
  • Little Downham
  • Little Eaton
  • little Eichmann
  • little emperor
  • Little England
  • Little Englander
  • Little Falls
  • little finger
  • little folk
  • Little Gem
  • little girl
  • little girls’ room
  • little grebe
  • little green man
  • Little Harrowden
  • Little Haven, Littlehaven
  • little head
  • Little Hereford
  • Little Houghton
  • little hour
  • little house
  • Little Hulton
  • Little Island
  • Little Italy
  • little Ivy
  • Little Kimble
  • little lady
  • Little London
  • Little Malvern
  • little man
  • Little Marlow
  • Little Mill, Littlemill
  • Little Missenden
  • Little Monster
  • Little Munden
  • Little Ness
  • little old, little ol’, little ole
  • little one
  • little owl
  • little peach
  • little penguin
  • little person
  • little pitcher
  • little pitchers have big ears, little pitchers have long ears
  • Little Ponton
  • Little Red Book
  • Little Rhody
  • Little River
  • Little Rock
  • Little Russia
  • Little Russian
  • Little Salkeld
  • Little Scotland
  • Little Shelford
  • little sib
  • little sister
  • little slam
  • little slick
  • Little Smeaton
  • Little Somerford
  • little spiderhunter
  • little spoon
  • little spotted kiwi
  • Little Stoke
  • Little Stour
  • little summer of St Luke
  • Little Sutton
  • little swimmer
  • little tinamou
  • little toe
  • Little Valley
  • Little Weighton
  • little wife
  • Little Wilbraham
  • little woman
  • little wonder
  • Little Wratting
  • Little Yeldham
  • little-ease
  • little-endian
  • little-go
  • little-known
  • little-used
  • littlein
  • littleneck
  • littleness

Translations[edit]

small in size

  • Albanian: vogël (sq)
  • Arabic: صَغِير‎ (ṣaḡīr)
    Egyptian Arabic: صغير‎ (ṣuḡayyar)
    Hijazi Arabic: صغير‎ (ṣaḡīr)
    Moroccan Arabic: صغير‎ (ṣḡīr)
    South Levantine Arabic: زغير‎ (zḡīr)
  • Aragonese: chicote
  • Aramaic:
    Hebrew: זעורא‎ m (z‘ūrā, z‘ūro), זעורתא‎ f (z‘ūrtā, z‘ūrto)
    Syriac: ܙܥܘܪܐ‎ m (z‘ūrā, z‘ūro), ܙܥܘܪܬܐ‎ f (z‘ūrtā, z‘ūrto)
  • Armenian: փոքր (hy) (pʿokʿr), մանր (hy) (manr)
  • Aromanian: njic
  • Asturian: pequeñu (ast)
  • Aymara: jisk’a (ay)
  • Azerbaijani: kiçik (az), balaca (az)
  • Bashkir: бәләкәй (bäläkäy), бәләкәс (bäläkäs), кесе (kese), кескәй (keskäy)
  • Basque: txiki (eu)
  • Belarusian: мале́нькі (be) (maljénʹki), малы́ (malý)
  • Belizean Creole: lee
  • Bengali: ছোট (bn) (chōṭ)
  • Breton: bihan (br)
  • Bulgarian: ма́лък (bg) (málǎk)
  • Burmese: သေး (my) (se:), နုပ် (my) (nup)
  • Catalan: petit (ca)
  • Chechen: жима (žima), кегий pl (kegii)
  • Cherokee: ᎤᏍᏗ (usdi)
  • Chinese:
    Mandarin: 小 (zh) (xiǎo)
  • Corsican: chjucu (co), picculu
  • Crimean Tatar: kiçik, kiçkene
  • Czech: malý (cs)
  • Dalmatian: pauc
  • Danish: lille (da), (with plural noun) små
  • Dutch: klein (nl)
  • Egyptian: (nḏs)
  • Esperanto: malgranda (eo)
  • Estonian: väike (et)
  • Faroese: lítil (fo)
  • Finnish: pieni (fi)
  • French: petit (fr)
  • Friulian: please add this translation if you can
  • Galician: pequeno (gl)
  • Georgian: პატარა (ka) (ṗaṭara), მცირე (mcire)
  • German: klein (de), wenig (de), (colloquial) lütt (de), lützel (de)
    Alemannic German: chlei
  • Gothic: 𐌻𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌹𐌻𐍃 (leitils)
  • Greek: μικρός (el) (mikrós), λίγος (el) (lígos)
    Ancient: μικρός (mikrós), (Epic) τυτθός (tutthós)
  • Gujarati: please add this translation if you can
  • Haitian Creole: ti
  • Hawaiian: liʻiliʻi
  • Hebrew: קטן‎ (he) (katán)
  • Hindi: छोटा (hi) (choṭā)
  • Hungarian: kicsi (hu), kis (hu)
  • Icelandic: lítill (is)
  • Ido: mikra (io)
  • Igbo: ntakiri
  • Indonesian: kecil (id)
  • Interlingua: parve (ia)
  • Irish: beag
  • Isan: please add this translation if you can
  • Istriot: peîcio
  • Italian: piccolo (it)
  • Jamaican Creole: likkle
  • Japanese: 小さい (ja) (ちいさい, chiisai)
  • Kannada: ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ (kn) (svalpa)
  • Kazakh: кіші (kk) (kışı), кішкене (kışkene)
  • Khmer: តូច (km) (tooc)
  • Korean: 작은 (ko) (jageun)
  • Kurdish:
    Central Kurdish: بِچووک‎ (ckb) (biçûk), بچکۆلە‎ (biçkole)
    Northern Kurdish: çûçik (ku), çûk (ku), piçûk (ku), qicik (ku)
  • Kyrgyz: кичине (ky) (kiçine), кичинекей (ky) (kiçinekey)
  • Lao: ນ້ອຍ (nǭi)
  • Latin: parvus (la), paulus
  • Latvian: mazs (lv)
  • Lithuanian: mažas (lt)
  • Low German: lütt (nds), kleen (nds)
    Middle Low German: (please verify) luttel, (please verify) luttik, (please verify) luttink, (please verify) luttichel
  • Luxembourgish: kleng (lb)
  • Macedonian: мал (mal)
  • Malay: kecil (ms)
  • Malayalam: ചെറിയ (ml) (ceṟiya)
  • Maltese: żgħir m
  • Maori: iti, poniponi, riki, nohinohi, paku
  • Mapudungun: pichi
  • Marathi: लहान (lahān)
  • Mirandese: please add this translation if you can
  • Mongolian: жижиг (mn) (žižig)
  • Nepali: सानो (ne) (sāno)
  • Ngazidja Comorian: -titi
  • North Frisian: litj (Sylt)
  • Northern Thai: please add this translation if you can
  • Norwegian: liten (no), liten (no)
  • Occitan: pichon (oc), petit (oc)
  • Old English: lȳtel
  • Oriya: please add this translation if you can
  • Pashto: وړوکی‎ (waṛukay), کوچنی‎ (kučnay)
  • Persian: کوچک‎ (fa) (kuček), خرد‎ (fa) (xord), که‎ (fa) (kah)
  • Polish: mały (pl)
  • Portuguese: pequeno (pt)
  • Punjabi: ਛੋਟਾ (choṭā)
  • Quechua: as (qu), aslla, ichik, pisi (qu), taksa, uchuy (qu)
  • Rajasthani: please add this translation if you can
  • Rapa Nui: iti, rikiriki
  • Romani: tikno
  • Romanian: mic (ro), mică (ro) f
  • Russian: ма́ленький (ru) (málenʹkij), ма́лый (ru) (mályj)
  • Sanskrit: अर्भ (sa) (arbha), अल्प (sa) (álpa), स्वल्प (sa) (svalpa)
  • Santali: ᱯᱤᱞᱪᱩ (pilcu)
  • Scots: (standard, Ulster) wee, (modern Orkney) peedie, (Shetland, archaic Orkney) peerie
  • Scottish Gaelic: beag (gd), mean, meanbh, mion
  • Serbo-Croatian:
    Cyrillic: ма̑л
    Roman: mȃl (sh)
  • Sicilian: nicu (scn) m, nicu (scn) m, nica (scn) f
  • Sikkimese: please add this translation if you can
  • Sinhalese: කුඩා (si) (kuḍā)
  • Skolt Sami: uˊcc
  • Slovak: malý (sk)
  • Slovene: majhen (sl)
  • Southern Thai: please add this translation if you can
  • Spanish: pequeño (es)
  • Swedish: liten (sv)
  • Tagalog: maliit
  • Tajik: хурд (tg) (xurd)
  • Tamil: சிறிய (ta) (ciṟiya)
  • Tatar: кече (keçe), кечек (keçek), бәләкәй (bäläkäy)
  • Telugu: చిన్న (te) (cinna)
  • Thai: เล็ก (th) (lék)
  • Tibetan: ཆུང་ཆུང (chung chung)
  • Tocharian B: yekte, totka
  • Tok Pisin: liklik
  • Turkish: küçük (tr)
  • Turkmen: kiçi
  • Udi: пӏатӏар (ṗaṭar)
  • Ugaritic: 𐎕𐎙𐎗 (ṣġr)
  • Ukrainian: мале́нький (malénʹkyj), мали́й (uk) (malýj)
  • Urdu: چھوٹا‎ (ur) (choṭā)
  • Uyghur: please add this translation if you can
  • Uzbek: kichik (uz)
  • Vietnamese: nhỏ (vi)
  • Volapük: please add this translation if you can
  • Walloon: pitit (wa)
  • Welsh: bach (cy)
  • West Frisian: lyts (fy)
  • Xhosa: please add this translation if you can
  • Yiddish: קליין‎ (kleyn)
  • Zhuang: iq
  • Zulu: -ncane
  • Zuni: ts’ana

insignificant, trivial

  • Bulgarian: незначи́телен (bg) (neznačítelen)
  • Catalan: mica (ca) f
  • French: peu (fr), pas beaucoup de
  • Italian: poco (it)
  • Ottoman Turkish: آز‎ (az)
  • Portuguese: menor (pt), pequeno (pt)
  • Quechua: tumpa (qu), wallka
  • Sicilian: muḍḍica f, stizza (scn) f, tanticchia (scn)
  • Spanish: poco (es), menor (es)

very young

  • Aramaic:
    Hebrew: זעורא‎ m (z‘ūrā, z‘ūro), זעורתא‎ f (z‘ūrtā, z‘ūrto)
    Syriac: ܙܥܘܪܐ‎ m (z‘ūrā, z‘ūro), ܙܥܘܪܬܐ‎ f (z‘ūrtā, z‘ūrto)
  • Armenian: փոքր (hy) (pʿokʿr)
  • Bashkir: кесе (kese), бәләкәй (bäläkäy)
  • Bulgarian: ма́лък (bg) (málǎk)
  • Czech: malý (cs)
  • Dutch: klein (nl)
  • Finnish: pieni (fi)
  • German: klein (de)
  • Greek: μικρός (el) m (mikrós)
  • Hebrew: קטן‎ (he) (katán)
  • Irish: beag
  • Jamaican Creole: likkle
  • Latin: iuvenis (la)
  • Macedonian: мал (mal), малечок (malečok)
  • Norwegian: liten (no)
  • Pashto: وړوکی‎ (waṛukay), کوچنی‎ (kučnay)
  • Portuguese: pequenino (pt)
  • Quechua: uchuylla
  • Russian: ма́ленький (ru) (málenʹkij)
  • Scottish Gaelic: beag (gd)
  • Sicilian: nicu (scn) m, jùvini m or f
  • Spanish: pequeño (es)
  • Swedish: liten (sv)
  • Welsh: ifanc (cy)

(of a sibling) younger

  • Armenian: փոքր (hy) (pʿokʿr)
  • Bulgarian: мла́дши (mládši)
  • Chinese:
    Mandarin: (uses different words for each familial title)
  • Czech: malý (cs), mladý (cs)
  • Danish: lille (da)
  • Dutch: jongere (nl), klein (nl)
  • Finnish: pikku- (fi)
  • French: cadet (fr)
  • German: klein (de), jung (de)
  • Greek: μικρός (el) (mikrós)
  • Hebrew: קטן‎ (he) (katán)
  • Hindi: छोटा (hi) (choṭā)
  • Hungarian: kis (hu), (younger brother) öcs (hu), (younger sister) húg (hu)
  • Italian: piccolo (it)
  • Jamaican Creole: likkle
  • Kurdish:
    Central Kurdish: بِچووک‎ (ckb) (biçûk), بچکۆلە‎ (biçkole)
  • Latin: iuvenis (la)
  • Macedonian: мал (mal), малечок (malečok)
  • Malayalam: കുഞ്ഞ് (ml) (kuññŭ)
  • Norwegian: lille-
  • Pashto: وړوکی‎ (waṛukay), کوچنی‎ (kučnay)
  • Portuguese: mais novo
  • Russian: мла́дший (ru) (mládšij)
  • Scots: wee
  • Scottish Gaelic: beag (gd)
  • Sicilian: nicu (scn) m, nica (scn) f
  • Slovene: mlajši (sl)
  • Swedish: yngre (sv), lille- (sv)
  • Telugu: చిన్న (te) (cinna)
  • Urdu: چھوٹا‎ (ur) (choṭā)

small in number, few

  • Apache:
    Western Apache: dayąhą́go
  • Aymara: juk’a
  • Bashkir: әҙ (äð)
  • Bulgarian: ма́лък (bg) (málǎk)
  • Chinese:
    Mandarin: 一些 (zh) (yì xiē)
    Min Nan: 淡薄仔 (zh-min-nan) (tām-po̍h-á) 一些? (chi̍t-sut-lá)
  • Esperanto: iom (eo), malmulta (eo)
  • German: wenig (de)
  • Guaraní: mbovy
  • Hebrew: מְעַט‎ (he) (me’át)
  • Hungarian: kevés (hu)
  • Malayalam: കുറച്ച് (ml) (kuṟaccŭ)
  • Old Turkic: 𐰀𐰕‎ (az /āz/)
  • Ottoman Turkish: آز‎ (az)
  • Portuguese: pequeno (pt), pouco (pt)
  • Quechua: as (qu), aslla, pisi (qu), wallka
  • Sanskrit: ईषत् (sa) (īṣat), स्वल्प (sa) (svalpa)
  • Sicilian: picca (scn), n’anticchia (scn), tanticchia (scn)
  • Spanish: poco (es)
  • Sundanese: sakedik
  • Turkish: az (tr)

Translations to be checked

  • Balinese: (please verify) cenik
  • Gujarati: (please verify) થોડું (gu) (thoḍũ)
  • Icelandic: (please verify) lítill (is)
  • Ido: (please verify) mikra (io)
  • Indonesian: (please verify) kecil (id)
  • Spanish: (please verify) menor (es), (please verify) poco (es)
  • Welsh: (please verify) bach (cy), (please verify) bychan (cy)

Adverb[edit]

little (comparative less or lesser, superlative least)

  1. Not much.

    This is a little known fact.  She spoke little and listened less.

    We slept very little last night.
    • Little disappointed, then, she turned attention to «Chat of the Social World,» gossip which exercised potent fascination upon the girl’s intelligence. She devoured with more avidity than she had her food those pretentiously phrased chronicles of the snobocracy […] distilling therefrom an acid envy that robbed her napoleon of all its savour.
  2. Not at all.

    I was speaking ill of Fred; little did I know that he was right behind me, listening in.

    • 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:

      But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection. ¶ […] The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window […], and a ‘bead’ could be drawn upon Molly, the dairymaid, kissing the fogger behind the hedge, little dreaming that the deadly tube was levelled at them.

    • 2012 May 13, Alistair Magowan, “Sunderland 0-1 Man Utd”, in BBC Sport:

      But as United saw the game out, little did they know that, having looked likely to win their 13th Premier League title, it was City who turned the table to snatch glory from their arch-rivals’ grasp.

Antonyms[edit]

  • much

Translations[edit]

not much

  • Albanian: please add this translation if you can
  • Arabic: قَلِيلاً‎ (qalīlan), قَلِيل‎ (ar) (qalīl)
    Hijazi Arabic: قَليل‎ (galīl)
  • Armenian: քիչ (hy) (kʿičʿ), սակավ (hy) (sakav)
  • Aromanian: putsãn, ptsãn
  • Asturian: pocu (ast)
  • Bakhtiari: کم‎ (kam)
  • Basque: gutxi
  • Belarusian: ма́ла (be) (mála), няшма́т (njašmát)
  • Bengali: কম (kom)
  • Bulgarian: ма́лко (bg) (málko)
  • Burmese: နည်း (my) (nany:)
  • Catalan: poc (ca)
  • Chamicuro: naspejka
  • Chinese:
    Mandarin: 少 (zh) (shǎo)
  • Czech: málo (cs)
  • Danish: lidt (da)
  • Dutch: weinig (nl)
  • Estonian: vähe (et)
  • Faroese: please add this translation if you can
  • Finnish: vähän (fi)
  • French: peu (fr)
  • Galician: pouco (gl)
  • German: wenig (de), kaum (de)
  • Greek: λίγο (el) (lígo)
    Ancient Greek: please add this translation if you can
  • Gujarati: થોડું (gu) (thoḍũ)
  • Hebrew: קצת‎ (he), מעט‎ (he)
  • Hindi: कम (hi) (kam)
  • Hungarian: keveset, kevéssé
  • Icelandic: lítið (is)
  • Ido: poka (io)
  • Igbo: please add this translation if you can
  • Indonesian: sedikit (id)
  • Irish: please add this translation if you can
  • Italian: poco (it)
  • Japanese: 少ない (ja) (すくない, sukunai)
  • Khmer: តិច (km) (təc)
  • Korean: 적다 (ko) (jeokda)
  • Kurdish:
    Central Kurdish: کەم‎ (ckb) (kem)
  • Ladin: please add this translation if you can
  • Ladino: please add this translation if you can
  • Laboya: mahha
  • Lao: ນ້ອຍ (nǭi)
  • Latin: paucus, non multus, paulo
  • Latvian: please add this translation if you can
  • Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
  • Macedonian: малку (mk) (malku)
  • Malayalam: അല്പം (ml) (alpaṃ)
  • Northern Sami: unˈnán
  • Norwegian:
    Norwegian Bokmål: lite (no)
    Norwegian Nynorsk: lite
  • Old English: lyt
  • Pashto: لږ‎ (ps) (lëģ)
  • Persian: کم‎ (fa) (kam)
  • Polish: mało (pl)
  • Portuguese: pouco (pt)
  • Romanian: puțin (ro)
  • Russian: ма́ло (ru) (málo), немно́го (ru) (nemnógo)
  • Rusyn: ма́ло (málo)
  • Scottish Gaelic: beagan
  • Serbo-Croatian:
    Cyrillic: ма̏ло
    Roman: mȁlo (sh)
  • Slovak: málo (sk)
  • Slovene: malo (sl)
  • Spanish: poco (es), poquito (es)
  • Sundanese: sakedik
  • Swahili: kidogo (sw)
  • Swedish: lite (sv)
  • Thai: น้อย (th) (nɔ́ɔi)
  • Turkish: az (tr)
  • Ukrainian: ма́ло (uk) (málo), небага́то (nebaháto)
  • Urdu: کم‎ (kam)
  • Veps: please add this translation if you can
  • Vietnamese: ít (vi)
  • Volapük: please add this translation if you can
  • Votic: please add this translation if you can
  • Võro: please add this translation if you can

Determiner[edit]

little (comparative less, superlative least)

  1. Not much, only a little: only a small amount (of).
    There is (very) little water left.
    We had very little to do.

Usage notes[edit]

  • Little is used with uncountable nouns, few with plural countable nouns.
  • Little can be used with or without an article. With the indefinite article, the emphasis is that there is indeed some, albeit not much:
We have a little money, so we’ll probably get by.
With no article or the definite article (or what), the emphasis is on the scarcity:

We have little money, and little hope of getting more.
The little (or What little) money we have is all going to pay for food and medication, so we can’t save any.

Antonyms[edit]

  • (not much): much

Translations[edit]

small amount

  • Albanian: pak (sq)
  • Arabic: قَلِيل‎ (ar) (qalīl)
  • Armenian: քիչ (hy) (kʿičʿ), սակավ (hy) (sakav)
  • Belarusian: ма́ла (be) (mála)
  • Bulgarian: ма́лко (bg) (málko)
  • Burmese: နည်း (my) (nany:)
  • Catalan: poc (ca), una mica de
  • Chinese:
    Mandarin: 少 (zh) (shǎo)
  • Czech: málo (cs)
  • Danish: lidt (da)
  • Dutch: weinig (nl), een beetje (nl)
  • Estonian: pisut
  • Faroese: please add this translation if you can
  • Finnish: hieman (fi), vähän (fi)
  • French: peu (fr), peu de
  • German: wenig (de)
  • Greek: λίγο (el) (lígo)
    Ancient: ὀλίγος (olígos)
  • Greenlandic: please add this translation if you can
  • Hindi: थोड़ा (hi) (thoṛā)
  • Hungarian: kevés (hu)
  • Icelandic: lítið (is)
  • Igbo: obere (ig)
  • Indonesian: sedikit (id)
  • Irish: beagán (ga) m
  • Italian: poco (it)
  • Jamaican Creole: likkle
  • Japanese: 少し (ja) (すこし, sukoshi), ちょっと (ja) (chotto)
  • Khmer: តិច (km) (təc)
  • Korean: 적은 (ko) (jeogeun)
  • Kurdish:
    Central Kurdish: نەختێ‎ (nextê), کەم‎ (ckb) (kem)
  • Ladin: please add this translation if you can
  • Ladino: please add this translation if you can
  • Lao: ນ້ອຍ (nǭi)
  • Latin: paulo
  • Latvian: maz
  • Lithuanian: mažai (lt)
  • Macedonian: малку (mk) (malku)
  • Maltese: ftit
  • Northern Sami: veaháš
  • Norwegian:
    Bokmål: litt (no)
    Norwegian Nynorsk: please add this translation if you can
  • Pashto: لږ‎ (ps) (lëģ)
  • Polish: mało (pl)
  • Portuguese: pouco (pt)
  • Romanian: puţin (ro)
  • Russian: ма́ло (ru) (málo)
  • Rusyn: ма́ло (málo)
  • Scottish Gaelic: beagan
  • Serbo-Croatian:
    Cyrillic: ма̏ло
    Roman: mȁlo (sh)
  • Slovak: málo (sk)
  • Slovene: malo (sl)
  • Spanish: poco (es)
  • Sundanese: sakedik
  • Swahili: kidogo (sw)
  • Swedish: lite (sv)
  • Telugu: కొంచెం (te) (koñceṁ), కొంత (te) (konta)
  • Thai: น้อย (th) (nɔ́ɔi)
  • Ukrainian: ма́ло (uk) (málo)
  • Urdu: تھوڑا‎ (thoṛā)
  • Veps: please add this translation if you can
  • Vietnamese: ít (vi)
  • Volapük: please add this translation if you can
  • Votic: please add this translation if you can
  • Võro: please add this translation if you can

See also[edit]

  • a little

Pronoun[edit]

little

  1. Not much; not a large amount.
    Little is known about his early life.

Noun[edit]

little (countable and uncountable, plural littles)

  1. (chiefly uncountable or in the singular) A small amount.
    Can I try a little of that sauce?
    Little did he do to make me comfortable.
    If you want some cake, there’s a little in the refrigerator
    Many littles make a mickle. (Scottish proverb)
  2. (countable, informal) A child; particularly an infant.
  3. (countable, university slang) A newly initiated member of a sorority, who is mentored by a big.

    • 2018, Kelly Ann Gonzales, Through an Opaque Window:

      He was there the night of Cristoph’s party. All the littles were assigned to their bigs. Ian and Christoph had rushed the same fraternity. When they became upperclassmen, they both ended up on the board.

    • 2019 April 1, Audrey Steinkamp, “Sororities pair new members with «bigs»”, in Yale Daily News‎[2]:

      She added that the relationship between bigs and littles is «what each pair makes of it,» and that a lot of the pairs often get dinner together and become close friends.

    • 2022 September 27, Shreya Varrier, “Gamma Rho Lambda provides LGBTQIA+ community in greek life”, in Iowa State Daily‎[3]:

      Some traditions of the chapter include lineages with bigs and littles, receiving of paddles from a big, and a national stroll, Wolsch-Gallia said.

  4. (countable, BDSM) The participant in ageplay who acts out the younger role.
  5. (countable) One who has mentally age regressed to a childlike state.

    • 2019 August 30, Kimberly Holland, Healthline‎[4]:

      People with [dissociative identity] disorder frequently have a younger personality among their distinctive personalities. However, it’s believed that the «little» may not be a separate personality. Instead, it may be a regressed version of the original personality.

    Antonym: big

Derived terms[edit]

  • little space

[edit]

  • a little
  • li’l, li’l’, lil
  • little by little
  • little old
  • belittle (cognate verb)

Anagrams[edit]

  • tillet
Источник

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I can just sense some eyes, some people kinda stare a little bit like they recognize me but don’t quite know for sure kinda thing.

Victor Cruz

section

ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD LITTLE

Old English lӯtel; related to lӯr few, Old High German luzzil.

info

Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.

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section

PRONUNCIATION OF LITTLE

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GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF LITTLE

Little can act as an adjective, an adverb and a determiner.

The adjective is the word that accompanies the noun to determine or qualify it.

The adverb is an invariable part of the sentence that can change, explain or simplify a verb or another adverb.

The determinant is a modifier that provides context to the noun, often in terms of quantity and possession.

WHAT DOES LITTLE MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Little

Little is a surname in the English language. The name is ultimately derived from the Middle English littel, and the Old English lȳtel, which mean «little». In some cases the name was originally a nickname for a little man. In other cases, the name was used to distinguish the younger of two bearers of the same personal name. Early records of the name include: Litle, in 972; Litle, in about 1095; and le Lytle, in 1296. The surname has absorbed several non English-language surnames. For example, Little is sometimes a translation of the Irish Ó Beagáin, meaning «descendant of Beagán«. Little can also be a translation of the French Petit and Lepetit, as well as other surnames in various languages with the same meaning, especially the German name Klein during World War II.


Definition of little in the English dictionary

The first definition of little in the dictionary is a small quantity, extent, or duration of. Other definition of little is not much. Little is also of small or less than average size.

WORDS THAT RHYME WITH LITTLE

Synonyms and antonyms of little in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS OF «LITTLE»

The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «little» and belong to the same grammatical category.

Translation of «little» into 25 languages

online translator

TRANSLATION OF LITTLE

Find out the translation of little to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.

The translations of little from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «little» in English.

Translator English — Chinese


小的

1,325 millions of speakers

Translator English — Spanish


pequeño

570 millions of speakers

English


little

510 millions of speakers

Translator English — Hindi


थोड़ा

380 millions of speakers

Translator English — Arabic


صَغِيرٌ

280 millions of speakers

Translator English — Russian


маленький

278 millions of speakers

Translator English — Portuguese


pequeno

270 millions of speakers

Translator English — Bengali


সামান্য

260 millions of speakers

Translator English — French


petit

220 millions of speakers

Translator English — Malay


Sedikit

190 millions of speakers

Translator English — German


klein

180 millions of speakers

Translator English — Japanese


小さい

130 millions of speakers

Translator English — Korean


작은

85 millions of speakers

Translator English — Javanese


Sethithik

85 millions of speakers

Translator English — Vietnamese


nhỏ

80 millions of speakers

Translator English — Tamil


சிறிய

75 millions of speakers

Translator English — Marathi


थोडेसे

75 millions of speakers

Translator English — Turkish


küçük

70 millions of speakers

Translator English — Italian


piccolo

65 millions of speakers

Translator English — Polish


mały

50 millions of speakers

Translator English — Ukrainian


маленький

40 millions of speakers

Translator English — Romanian


mic

30 millions of speakers

Translator English — Greek


μικρός

15 millions of speakers

Translator English — Afrikaans


bietjie

14 millions of speakers

Translator English — Swedish


liten

10 millions of speakers

Translator English — Norwegian


liten

5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of little

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «LITTLE»

The term «little» is very widely used and occupies the 664 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.

Trends

FREQUENCY

Very widely used

The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «little» in the different countries.

Principal search tendencies and common uses of little

List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «little».

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «LITTLE» OVER TIME

The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «little» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «little» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about little

10 QUOTES WITH «LITTLE»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word little.

I remember doing a little student film where we had a guy that couldn’t pull focus. We ended up spending three times the amount of time shooting this thing as opposed to if the guy could’ve just pulled focus.

Possibly the fact that I was physically quite feeble, a relatively short little fellow, attracted me to that idea of a very authoritative and aggressive version of Conservative politics.

Each person holds so much power within themselves that needs to be let out. Sometimes they just need a little nudge, a little direction, a little support, a little coaching, and the greatest things can happen.

I kind of — I like my life; I feel I have lots of opportunities. And my parents actually having had such high expectations for me — I would say it’s the greatest gift that anyone has ever given me. I complained a lot when I was little, but that’s how I feel now. And that’s why I tried to do the same with my two daughters.

He who closes his ears to the views of others shows little confidence in the integrity of his own views.

That is one of the first things my family, my mother and my grandfather, had taught me about acting: ‘Use your eyes!’ Not being able to do that physical aspect of it, and having to put it all into your voice? That was a little bit of a challenge.

When people refer to ‘Back in the Day,’ it was a Wednesday. Just a little fun fact for you.

I can just sense some eyes, some people kinda stare a little bit like they recognize me but don’t quite know for sure kinda thing.

I get a little jealous of these actor boys. They walk into a club, and in two seconds flat there are swarms of girls who are wanting so badly to touch them or just say hello. That’s not the case with me, or any other girl I know.

I like poems that are little games.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «LITTLE»

Discover the use of little in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to little and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.

1

The Little Book: A Novel

Thirty years in the writing, Selden Edwards’ dazzling first novel is an irresistible triumph of the imagination.

2

The Little Book of Talent: 52 Tips for Improving Your Skills

The Little Book of Talent is a manual for building a faster brain and a better you.

3

The Little Book of Common Sense Investing: The Only Way to …

That’s what index investing is all about. And that’s what this book is all about. Praise for The Little Book of Common Sense Investing «A low-cost index fund is the most sensible equity investment for the greatmajority of investors.

4

The Little Book of Value Investing

Within these pages, high-caliber value manager Christopher Browne illustrates how to identify the «sales flyers,» the market offers to profit, while avoiding bubbles and manias. This little book is a treasure trove of insight.

Christopher H. Browne, 2007

5

A Little Book of Coincidence

Looks at the orbital patterns of the planets and the mathematical patterns surrounding them.

6

The Little Book on CoffeeScript

This concise book shows JavaScript developers how to build superb web applications with CoffeeScript, the remarkable language that’s gaining considerable interest.

Pages of decreasing, then increasing, size open to reveal different animals, each opening a book of a different color and reading about the next.

8

A Little Book for New Theologians: Why and How to Study Theology

It affects who we are. In the tradition of Helmut Thielicke’s A Little Exercise for Young Theologians, Kelly Kapic offers a concise introduction to the study of theology for newcomers to the field.

9

The Little Book of Main Street Money: 21 Simple Truths that …

This book does not stop at merely making you richer and smarter; it will even help you lead a better life.» —Jason Zweig, author of Your Money and Your Brain and editor of Benjamin Graham’s The Intelligent Investor «Jonathan Clements is …

10

The Little Book of Valuation: How to Value a Company, Pick a …

In addition, The Little Book of Valuation: Includes illustrative case studies and examples that will help develop your valuation skills Puts you in a better position to determine which investments are on track to add real value to your …

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «LITTLE»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term little is used in the context of the following news items.

Why DO Little Mix always look so angry? Rise of the grimacing girl …

They grimaced, they gurned and Little Mix grumped their way through Sunday’s fierce performance at Manchester Arena, proving that rage is … «Daily Mail, Jul 15»

Mobile game of the week: Little Inferno — Offworld — Boing Boing

Sometimes you just want the world to burn, especially when it’s ending. In Little Inferno, a wintry apocalypse has engulfed the Earth, and you’re … «Boing Boing, Jul 15»

Little Mix’s Jesy Nelson and Jake Roche are engaged with help from …

Jake, 22, popped the question to his 23-year-old girlfriend of one year on stage at Manchester Arena on Sunday with a little help from his friend … «Daily Mail, Jul 15»

‘Pretty Little Liar’ Troian Bellisario, Stana Katic to Star in Movie | Variety

Troian Bellisario, Stana Katic, Jess Weixler and Michelle Trachtenberg have been tapped to star in the indie drama “Sister Cities,” based on the … «Variety, Jul 15»

The Witcher 3 Just Got Better In A Bunch Of Little Ways — Kotaku

I’ve gotten pretty used to the game’s many little quirks, so some of the little changes feel more noticeable to me than they may to another player. «Kotaku, Jul 15»

Apple Will Beat June Quarter Estimates, But Only By A Little — Forbes

Apple Will Beat June Quarter Estimates, But Only By A Little. Comment Now. Follow Comments Following Comments Unfollow Comments. «Forbes, Jul 15»

Denver, see Big Trouble In Little China tonight as part of our …

Frank and I will appear in person to introduce Big Trouble in Little China and pick the winners of this month’s giveaway: Three copies of … «A.V. Club, Jul 15»

Stephen Colbert Is Here to Make Your Sad Desk Lunch a Little Less …

According to the most depressing blog on the Internet, 62 percent of American workers eat lunch at their desk, a phenomenon known as the … «TIME, Jul 15»

Morning MoneyBeat Asia: U.S. Stocks Little Moved; Gold Much …

U.S. stocks were little changed, even as a few names made a splash. PayPal came back to the capital markets for the first time since eBay … «Wall Street Journal, Jul 15»

Petr Cech believes Arsenal only ‘little details’ away from catching …

“Little details,” he says. It is an assessment that helps explain Cech’s decision to make the controversial eight mile move from Stamford Bridge … «Telegraph.co.uk, Jul 15»

REFERENCE

« EDUCALINGO. Little [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/little>. Apr 2023 ».

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Источник

Princeton’s WordNetRate this definition:2.8 / 4 votes

  1. littleadjective

    a small amount or duration

    «he accepted the little they gave him»

  2. small, littleadjective

    limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent

    «a little dining room»; «a little house»; «a small car»; «a little (or small) group»

  3. little(a), slightadjective

    (quantifier used with mass nouns) small in quantity or degree; not much or almost none or (with `a’) at least some

    «little rain fell in May»; «gave it little thought»; «little time is left»; «we still have little money»; «a little hope remained»; «there’s slight chance that it will work»; «there’s a slight chance it will work»

  4. little, smalladjective

    (of children and animals) young, immature

    «what a big little boy you are»; «small children»

  5. fiddling, footling, lilliputian, little, niggling, piddling, piffling, petty, picayune, trivialadjective

    (informal) small and of little importance

    «a fiddling sum of money»; «a footling gesture»; «our worries are lilliputian compared with those of countries that are at war»; «a little (or small) matter»; «a dispute over niggling details»; «limited to petty enterprises»; «piffling efforts»; «giving a police officer a free meal may be against the law, but it seems to be a picayune infraction»

  6. little, smalladjective

    (of a voice) faint

    «a little voice»; «a still small voice»

  7. short, littleadjective

    low in stature; not tall

    «he was short and stocky»; «short in stature»; «a short smokestack»; «a little man»

  8. little, minuscule, smalladjective

    lowercase

    «little a»; «small a»; «e.e.cummings’s poetry is written all in minuscule letters»

  9. littleadverb

    small in a way that arouses feelings (of tenderness or its opposite depending on the context)

    «a nice little job»; «bless your little heart»; «my dear little mother»; «a sweet little deal»; «I’m tired of your petty little schemes»; «filthy little tricks»; «what a nasty little situation»

  10. littleadverb

    not much

    «he talked little about his family»

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

  1. littleadverb

    Not much.

  2. littleadverb

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

  3. littleadjective

    Small in size.

    This is a little table.

  4. littleadjective

    Insignificant, trivial.

    It’s of little importance.

  5. littleadjective

    Very young.

  6. littleadjective

    Younger.

    This is my little sister.

Samuel Johnson’s DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

  1. LITTLEadjective

    comp. less, superlat. least;

    Etymology: leitels, Gothick; lytel , Saxon.

    1. Small in quantity.

    The coast of Dan went out too little for them.
    Josh. xix.

    2. Not great; small; diminutive; of small bulk.

    He sought to see Jesus, but could not for the press, because he was little of stature.
    Luke xix. 3.

    His son, being then very little, I considered only as wax, to be moulded as one pleases.
    John Locke.

    3. Of small dignity, power, or importance.

    When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes.
    1 Sam. xv. 17.

    All that is past ought to seem little to thee, because it is so in itself.
    Jeremy Taylor, Guide to Devotion.

    4. Not much; not many.5. Some; not none.

    I leave him to reconcile these contradictions, which may plentifully be found in him, by any one who will but read with a little attention.
    John Locke.

  2. Littleadverb

    1. In a small degree.

    The received definition of names should be changed as little as possible.
    Isaac Watts, Logick.

    2. In a small quantity.3. In some degree, but not great.

    Where there is too great a thinness in the fluids, sub-acid substances are proper, though they are a little astringent.
    John Arbuthnot, on Aliments.

    4. Not much.

    The tongue of the just is as choice silver; the heart of the wicked is little worth.
    Prov. x. 20.

    Finding him little studious, she chose rather to endue him with conversative qualities of youth; as, dancing and fencing.
    Henry Wotton.

    That poem was infamously bad; this parallel is little better.
    John Dryden, Dufresnoy.

    Several clergymen, otherwise little fond of obscure terms, yet in their sermons were very liberal of all those which they find in ecclesiastical writers.
    Jonathan Swift.

  3. Littlenoun

    1. A small space.

    Much was in little writ; and all convey’d
    With cautious care, for fear to be betray’d.
    Dryden.

    2. A small part; a small proportion.

    He that despiseth little things, shall perish by little and little.
    Ecclus.

    The poor remnant of human seed which remained in their mountains, peopled their country again slowly, by little and little.
    Francis Bacon, New Atlantis.

    By freeing the precipitated matter from the rest by filtration, and diligently grinding the white precipitate with water, the mercury will little by little be gathered into drops.
    Boyle.

    I gave thee thy master’s house, and the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have given such and such things.
    2 Sam. xii. 8.

    They have much of the poetry of Mecænas, but little of his liberality.
    John Dryden, All for Love. Preface to.

    Nor grudge I thee the much that Grecians give,
    Nor murm’ring take the little I receive.
    John Dryden, Homer.

    There are many expressions, which carrying with them no clear ideas, are like to remove but little of my ignorance.
    John Locke.

    3. A slight affair.

    As if ’twere little from their town to chase,
    I through the seas pursued their exil’d race.
    John Dryden, Æn.

    I view with anger and disdain,
    How little gives thee joy or pain:
    A print, a bronze, a flow’r, a root.
    Matthew Prior.

    4. Not much.

    These they are fitted for, and little else.
    George Cheyne.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

  1. Littleadjective

    small in size or extent; not big; diminutive; — opposed to big or large; as, a little body; a little animal; a little piece of ground; a little hill; a little distance; a little child

  2. Littleadjective

    short in duration; brief; as, a little sleep

  3. Littleadjective

    small in quantity or amount; not much; as, a little food; a little air or water

  4. Littleadjective

    small in dignity, power, or importance; not great; insignificant; contemptible

  5. Littleadjective

    small in force or efficiency; not strong; weak; slight; inconsiderable; as, little attention or exertion;little effort; little care or diligence

  6. Littleadjective

    small in extent of views or sympathies; narrow; shallow; contracted; mean; illiberal; ungenerous

  7. Littlenoun

    that which is little; a small quantity, amount, space, or the like

  8. Littlenoun

    a small degree or scale; miniature

  9. Littleadverb

    in a small quantity or degree; not much; slightly; somewhat; — often with a preceding it

  10. Etymology: [OE. litel, lutel, AS. ltel, ltel, lt; akin to OS. littil, D. luttel, LG. ltt, OHG. luzzil, MHG. ltzel; and perh. to AS. lytig deceitful, lot deceit, Goth. liuts deceitful, lutn to deceive; cf. also Icel. ltill little, Sw. liten, Dan. liden, lille, Goth. leitils, which appear to have a different root vowel.]

FreebaseRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

  1. Little

    The Little was an automobile built in Flint, Michigan by the Little Motor Car Company from 1912-15. The Little first was available as a two-seater with a four-cylinder 20 hp engine, and had a wheelbase of 7 ft 7 in . In 1914 a 3.6 L six-cylinder L-head engine was available in a later model that had a larger chassis. This was phased out in 1915 as it was too close in size and price to the Chevrolet Six. Durant merged the Little Company and Chevrolet in 1913, gave the Chevrolet name to the Little car and moved manufacturing from the Detroit plant to Flint.

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

  1. Little

    lit′l, adj. (comp. Less; superl. Least) small in quantity or extent: weak, poor: brief.—n. that which is small in quantity or extent: a small space.—adv. in a small quantity or degree: not much.—ns. Litt′le-ease, discomfort, misery: a form of punishment, as the stocks; Litt′le-end′ian, one of the Lilliputian party who opposed the Big-endians, maintaining that boiled eggs should be cracked at the little end; Litt′le-go (see Go); Litt′leness; Litt′le-off′ice, a short service of psalms, hymns, collects, &c.—adj. Litt′leworth, worthless.—By little and little, by degrees; In little, on a small scale; Not a little, considerably. [A.S. lýtel.]

Surnames Frequency by Census RecordsRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

  1. LITTLE

    According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Little is ranked #291 in terms of the most common surnames in America.

    The Little surname appeared 105,936 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 36 would have the surname Little.

    70.1% or 74,272 total occurrences were White.
    24.2% or 25,700 total occurrences were Black.
    2% or 2,129 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
    1.9% or 2,045 total occurrences were of two or more races.
    1.2% or 1,335 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.
    0.4% or 466 total occurrences were Asian.

British National Corpus

  1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word ‘little’ in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #337

  2. Written Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word ‘little’ in Written Corpus Frequency: #176

  3. Adverbs Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word ‘little’ in Adverbs Frequency: #187

  4. Adjectives Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word ‘little’ in Adjectives Frequency: #21

How to pronounce little?

How to say little in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of little in Chaldean Numerology is: 2

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of little in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6

Examples of little in a Sentence

  1. Ioannis Ieropoulos:

    One microbial fuel cell costs about 1 pound ($2) to make, and we think that a small unit like the demo we have mocked up for this experiment could cost as little as 600 pounds to set up, which is a significant bonus as this technology is, in theory, everlasting.

  2. Michael McCormack:

    T-Mobile wanted to win a marketing campaign with a big magenta map that lights up the whole country, with Verizon or ATT, you’ll just see little dots around the country. But whether that brings new customers [ to T-Mobile ] remains to be seen.

  3. Scott Sicherer:

    It’s what a lot of families call trying to be’ bite safe.’ it’s not that you’re curing the allergy ; it’s not that you’re going to be able to eat peanut butter sandwiches, it’s really just to have a better threshold so that if you accidentally ate something that had a little bit of peanut in it, maybe you wouldn’t have a reaction or the reaction wouldn’t be so bad.

  4. Plumas County Sheriff Greg Hagwood:

    This has shaken my staff to the core, that little girl had been subjected to the most unspeakable measure of torture for an extended period of time. This is child abuse, the likes of which we haven’t experienced here (in Plumas County).

  5. President Trump:

    On top of that, Germany is just paying a little bit over 1 %, whereas the President Trump, in actual numbers, is paying 4.2 % of a much larger GDP, so I think that’s inappropriate also. You know, we’re protecting Germany, we’re protecting France. We’re protecting everybody. And yet we’re paying a lot of money to protect.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

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Are we missing a good definition for little? Don’t keep it to yourself…

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This shows grade level based on the word’s complexity.

adjective, lit·tler or less or less·er, lit·tlest or least.

small in size; not big; not large; tiny: a little desk in the corner of the room.

short in duration; not extensive; short; brief: a little while.

small in number: a little group of scientists.

small in amount or degree; not much: little hope.

of a certain amount; appreciable (usually preceded by a): We’re having a little difficulty.

being such on a small scale: little farmers.

younger or youngest: He’s my little brother.

not strong, forceful, or loud; weak: a little voice.

small in consideration, importance, position, affluence, etc.: little discomforts;tax reductions to help the little fellow.

mean, narrow, or illiberal: a little mind.

endearingly small or considered as such: Bless your little heart!

amusingly small or so considered: a funny little way of laughing.

contemptibly small, petty, mean, etc., or so considered: filthy little political tricks.

adverb, less, least.

not at all (used before a verb): He little knows what awaits him.

in only a small amount or degree; not much; slightly: a little-known work of art;little better than a previous effort.

seldom; rarely; infrequently: We see each other very little.

noun

a small amount, quantity, or degree: They did little to make him comfortable.If you want some ice cream, there’s a little in the refrigerator.

a short distance: It’s down the road a little.

a short time: Stay here for a little.

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Idioms about little

    in little, on a small scale; in miniature: a replica in little of Independence Hall.

    little by little, by small degrees; gradually: The water level rose little by little.

    make little of,

    1. to belittle: to make little of one’s troubles.
    2. to understand or interpret only slightly: Scholars made little of the newly discovered text.

    not a little, to a great extent; very much; considerably: It tired me not a little to stand for three hours.

    think little of, to treat casually; regard as trivial: They think little of driving 50 miles to see a movie.

Origin of little

First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English lȳtel (lȳt “few, small” + -el diminutive suffix), cognate with Dutch luttel, Old High German luzzil, Old Norse lītill

synonym study for little

1-4. Little, diminutive, minute, small refer to that which is not large or significant. Little (the opposite of big ) is very general, covering size, extent, number, quantity, amount, duration, or degree: a little boy; a little time. Small (the opposite of large and of great ) can many times be used interchangeably with little, but is especially applied to what is limited or below the average in size: small oranges. Diminutive denotes (usually physical) size that is much less than the average or ordinary; it may suggest delicacy: the baby’s diminutive fingers; diminutive in size but autocratic in manner. Minute suggests that which is so tiny it is difficult to discern, or that which implies attentiveness to the smallest details: a minute quantity; a minute exam.

OTHER WORDS FROM little

lit·tlish [lit-l-ish, lit-lish], /ˈlɪt l ɪʃ, ˈlɪt lɪʃ/, adjectivelit·tle·ness, noun

Words nearby little

litterbag, litterbug, litter lout, littermate, littery, little, Little Alföld, Little Alliance, Little America, little auk, Little Bear

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

MORE ABOUT LITTLE

What is a basic definition of little?

Little describes something that is small in size. Little also describes a short time. And little can refer to a small amount of something. Little has many other senses as an adjective, adverb, and noun.

If something is little, it is tiny or physically small. Little is the opposite of words like big, huge, and gigantic. The noun form of this sense is littleness.

Real-life examples: Newborn babies are little. A single grain of sand is little. A dime is a little coin compared to quarters and nickels.

Used in a sentence: I found a little piece of paper tucked inside the small book. 

Little also describes a short amount of time. This sense is commonly used as “a little while” or “a little bit.” This sense is a synonym of words like brief or short.

Real-life examples: A five-minute rest is a little break. You might go away for a weekend and call it a little vacation. You might stay at a friend’s house for a little while before saying goodbye. And 367 days is a little over a year.

Used in a sentence: We stopped at the gas station for a little bit to fill up the car before continuing our trip. 

Little can also describe a small amount of something.

Real-life examples: A chef might add a little salt to a recipe. There might be a little rain on a cloudy day. A new chess player usually has little chance of beating a professional.

Used in a sentence: She added to the romantic atmosphere by playing a little music. 

Little is also used in this sense as a noun.

Used in a sentence: If you are looking for paint, there is a little in the supply closet.

Where does little come from?

The first records of little come from before the 900s. It ultimately comes from the Old English lȳtel, a diminutive of the word lȳt, meaning “few” or “small.” Lȳtel is related to the Dutch luttel and the Old Norse lītill.

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How is little used in real life?

Little is a very common word often used to mean something is small, short, or of a low quantity.

My cat Finkle is 17 now and in pretty bad shape. So sad to see him like this, we saved him when he was just a little kitten

— Samuel (@sam_dhand) November 24, 2020

I lost focus for a little while but I’m back on my grind.

— DJ Kam Bennett (@KameronBennett) November 21, 2020

Trying to find ways to employ people so that they can at least earn a little money. Having my windows cleaned on the outside today. #lockdown

— Marina Sirtis (@Marina_Sirtis) April 21, 2020

Try using little!

Is little used correctly in the following sentence?

The fence stops big animals, but little animals can still squeeze through the small gaps.

Words related to little

insufficient, limited, meager, scant, slight, a little, barely, hardly, rarely, seldom, bit, hint, taste, touch, bantam, brief, diminutive, dinky, infant, infinitesimal

How to use little in a sentence

  • Mounting a winch can take a little time, and you’ll usually need a bracket specific to your ATV, but it’s not all that difficult.

  • We have very little problem in this country at this moment — five.

  • A little more than a month ago, the Big Ten became the first major conference to postpone the season.

  • Later, a researcher from Yale and Pew Research Center conducted separate tests that also found little to no evidence in support of the claim.

  • Separately, the CEO of TripAction says business travel has picked up a little recently, but is still down about 80% since February—compared to the 90% drop in March.

  • But Babylon asks us to do a little more: It wants us to empathize.

  • Everybody is trapped in an elevator together and tempers run a little hot.

  • How about baby drama with little Abijean and the Wee Baby Seamus?

  • I was a little mystified at how benignly he responded to my questions about his business activities.

  • Scalise spoke briefly, adding little of substance, saying that the people back home know him best.

  • It is most peculiar, and when he plays that way, the most bewitching little expression comes over his face.

  • In less than ten minutes, the bivouac was broken up, and our little army on the march.

  • A little boy of four was moved to passionate grief at the sight of a dead dog taken from a pond.

  • Squinty could look out, but the slats were as close together as those in a chicken coop, and the little pig could not get out.

  • We should have to admit that the new law does little or nothing to relieve such a situation.

British Dictionary definitions for little

determiner

(often preceded by a)

  1. a small quantity, extent, or duration ofthe little hope there is left; very little milk
  2. (as pronoun)save a little for me

not muchlittle damage was done

quite a little a considerable amount

think little of to have a low opinion of

adjective

of small or less than average size

younga little boy; our little ones

endearingly familiar; dearmy husband’s little ways

contemptible, mean, or disagreeableyour filthy little mind

(of a region or district) resembling another country or town in miniaturelittle Venice

little game a person’s secret intention or businessso that’s his little game!

no little considerable

adverb

(usually preceded by a) in a small amount; to a small extent or degree; not a lotto laugh a little

(used preceding a verb) not at all, or hardlyhe little realized his fate

not much or oftenwe go there very little now

little by little by small degrees

Word Origin for little

Old English lӯtel; related to lӯr few, Old High German luzzil

Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with little

In addition to the idioms beginning with little

  • little bird told one, a
  • little by little
  • little frog in a big pond
  • little knowledge is a dangerous thing, a
  • little pitchers have big ears

also see:

  • a little
  • every little bit helps
  • in one’s own (little) world
  • make little of
  • precious few (little)
  • think little of
  • to little purpose
  • too little, too late

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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