Little

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See also a little

English

Most common English words: time « only « like « #76: little » now » then » A

Etymology

Old English lȳtel, from West Germanic *lutila-. Cognate with Dutch luttel, German lützel/luetzel, West Frisian lyts, L.G. lütt, O.H.G. luzzil, M.H.G. lützel, O.E. lūtan (“‘to bow, bend low’”); and perh. to O.E. lytig "deceitful, lot deceit", Goth. liuts deceitful, lutjan "to deceive"; cf. also Icel. lítill "little", Sw. liten, Dan. liden, lille, Goth. leitils, which appear to have a different root vowel. More at lout

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈlɪtl̩/, SAMPA: /"lItl=/

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• Rhymes: -ɪtəl
• Hyphenation: lit‧tle

Adjective

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

Positive Little

Comparative less, lesser or littler

Superlative least or littlest

1. Small.

   This is a little table.

   It's of little importance.

2. Very young.

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

   That's the biggest little kid I've ever seen.

3. (of a sibling) Younger.

   This is my little sister.

4. Used with the name of place, especially of a country, 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, 2005 edition, ISBN 080214215X, 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.

Template:Rft

Antonyms

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

Translations

small

Arabic: صغير (ṣaġīr) Aragonese: chicote Armenian: փոքր (p'ok'r), մանր hy(hy) (manr) Basque: txiki eu(eu) Chinese: 小 (xiǎo) Crimean Tatar: kiçik, kiçkene Czech: malý cs(cs) Danish: lille da(da) Dutch: klein nl(nl) Esperanto: malgranda eo(eo) Finnish: pieni fi(fi) French: petit fr(fr) Georgian: პატარ ka(ka) (patara), მცირე ka(ka) (mc’ire) German: klein de(de) wenig de(de) Greek: μικρός el(el) (mikrós), λίγος el(el) (línos) Hebrew: קטן he(he) (katán) Hindi: छोटा hi(hi) (ćhoṭā) Hungarian: kicsi hu(hu), kis hu(hu) Interlingua: parve ia(ia)

Irish: beag ga(ga) Italian: piccolo it(it) Japanese: 小さい (ちいさい, chiisai) Kurdish: Sorani: بچووک ku(ku) (bichook), بچکۆله‌ ku(ku) (bichkola) Lao: ນ້ອຍ lo(lo) (nööj) Macedonian: мал mk(mk) (mal) m. Mapudungun: [[pichi#Template:Arn|pichi]] m. Norwegian: liten no(no) Rapanui: iti Russian: маленький ru(ru) (málen’kij) Sanskrit: अल्प sa(sa) (álpa) Santali: [[ᱯᱤᱞᱪᱩ#Template:Sat|Template:Olck]] (pilcu) Scots: wee Scottish Gaelic: beag gd(gd) Sicilian: nicu scn(scn) m. Spanish: pequeño es(es) Swedish: liten sv(sv) Telugu: చిన్న te(te) (chinna) Urdu: چھوٹا ur(ur) (ćhoṭā)

very young

Finnish: pieni fi(fi) German: klein de(de) Hebrew: קטן he(he) (katán)

Irish: beag ga(ga) Macedonian: мал mk(mk) (mal) m., малечок mk(mk) (málečok) m.

(of a sibling) younger

Armenian: փոքր (p'ok'r) Czech: malý cs(cs), mladý cs(cs) Danish: lille da(da) Dutch: jongere nl(nl), klein nl(nl) Finnish: pikku- fi(fi) French: cadet fr(fr) German: klein de(de), jung de(de) Greek: μικρός el(el) (mikrós) Hebrew: קטן he(he) (katán) Hindi: छोटा hi(hi) (ćhoṭā) Hungarian: kis, younger brother: öcs, younger sister: húg

Italian: piccolo it(it) Kurdish: Sorani: بچووک ku(ku) (bichook), بچکۆله‌ ku(ku) (bichkola) Macedonian: мал mk(mk) (mal) m., малечок mk(mk) (málečok) m. Norwegian: lille- no(no) Scots: wee Scottish Gaelic: beag gd(gd) Swedish: yngre, lille- Telugu: చిన్న te(te) (chinna) Urdu: چھوٹا ur(ur) (ćhoṭā)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Aramaic: Syriac: ܙܥܘܪܐ (z‘ūrā, z‘ūro) m., ܙܥܘܪܬܐ (z‘ūrtā, z‘ūrto) f. Hebrew: זעורא (z‘ūrā, z‘ūro) m., זעורתא (z‘ūrtā, z‘ūrto) f. Balinese: cenik Chinese: 小 (xiǎo) Dutch: klein Gujarati: થોડું Icelandic: lítill Ido: mikra Indonesian: kecil Pashto: كوچنى (kuchnay) Spanish: menor (2); poco m., poca f.,(2) Welsh: bach, bychan

Adverb

Little (comparative less or lesser, superlative least)

Positive Little

Comparative less or lesser

Superlative least

1. Not much.

   This is a little known fact.

   She spoke little and listened less.

Antonyms

• much

Translations

not much

Arabic: قليلاً (qalīlan) Armenian: քիչ hy(hy) (k'ič), սակավ hy(hy) (sakav) Basque: gutxi eu(eu) Chamicuro: naspejka Chinese: 少 (shǎo) Czech: málo cs(cs) Dutch: weinig nl(nl) Finnish: vähän fi(fi) French: peu de fr(fr) German: wenig de(de) Greek: λίγο el(el) Gujarati: થોડું Hebrew: קצת he(he), מעט he(he)

Hungarian: keveset hu(hu), kevéssé hu(hu) Ido: poka Indonesian: sedikit id(id) Italian: poco it(it) Japanese: 少ない (すくない, sukunai) Kurdish: Sorani: که‌م ku(ku) (kam) Macedonian: малку mk(mk) (málku) Old English: lyt ang(ang) Romanian: puţin ro(ro) Russian: мало ru(ru) (málo) Scottish Gaelic: beagan gd(gd) Spanish: poco es(es), poquito es(es)

Determiner

Little (comparative less, superlative least)

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

   There is little water left.

   We had very little to do.

Usage notes

• Little is used with uncountable nouns, few with plural countable nouns.

Antonyms

• (not much): much

Translations

small amount

Armenian: քիչ hy(hy) (k’ič), սակավ hy(hy) (sakav) Czech: málo cs(cs) Dutch: weinig nl(nl), een beetje Estonian: pisut et(et) Finnish: hieman fi(fi), vähän fi(fi) German: wenig de(de) Hindi: थोड़ा hi(hi) (thoṛā)

Kurdish: Sorani: نه‌ختێ ku(ku) (nakhtae), که‌م ku(ku) (kam) Macedonian: малку mk(mk) (málku) Russian: мало ru(ru) (málo) Scottish Gaelic: beagan gd(gd) Telugu: కొంచెం te(te) (konchem), కొంత te(te) (konta) Urdu: تھوڑا ur(ur) (thoṛā)

Related terms

• a little
• little by little

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