# least
## English
### Etymology 1

From Middle English leste, lest, last, from Old English lǣst, a contraction of læsast, læsest, lærest (“least”), from Proto-Germanic *laisistaz (“smallest; least”), related to Old English læs (“less”). Cognate with Old Frisian leist, Old Saxon lēs. More at less.

#### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /liːst/
* (General American) IPA: /list/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -iːst
* Homophone: leased

#### Determiner

least (comparative less)
* The most little; the smallest amount or quantity of something.
    He earns the least money in his family. Of all the sisters, she has the least patience. I can only afford to pay the least of the bills. I'm giving (the) least of all towards her present.
** 1857, Edmund March Blunt, The American Coast Pilot: Containing Directions for the Principal Harbors, E. & G.W. Blunt, page 135:The least water we could find there was 4 fathoms, which bears from the point S.E., and is distant 1½ mile.
** 1847, John Duncan, Duncan's Travels:To have demolished and rebuilt the walls, would have been a very costly expedient, and as the least of two evils, the painter's brush was resorted to; here and there however, above some of the windows, the black wreathings of the smoke are still discernible through the white covering.
** 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter V, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:“Well,” I says, “I cal'late a body could get used to Tophet if he stayed there long enough.” ¶ She flared up; the least mite of a slam at Doctor Wool was enough to set her going.
** 1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax:Charles had not been employed above six months at Darracott Place, but he was not such a whopstraw as to make the least noise in the performance of his duties when his lordship was out of humour.
** 1960 December, “The first hundred 25 kV a.c. electric locomotives for B.R.”, in Trains Illustrated, page 727:Comparison of the four bogie designs shows that the Rugby-built A.E.I. bogie has the least number of components and a minimum of metallic wearing surfaces.
** 2004, Jim Baggott, Beyond Measure: Modern Physics, Philosophy, and the Meaning of Quantum Theory, Oxford University Press, page 48:Light does not need to know in advance which is the path of least time because it takes all paths from its source to its destination.

##### Usage notes

Some grammarians recommend to use least only with uncountable nouns, as in the examples above with the smallest amount of sense:
* 1965, H. W. Fowler, Fowler’s Modern English Usage: Second Edition:[W]hen the context—unemotional statement of everyday facts—is taken into account, at a less price ought to be at a lower price, and a lesser prize ought to be a smaller prize.
To such grammarians least is the superlative of a little, not that of little, so it does not mean smallest, but the smallest amount of. With plural nouns, they recommend fewest. However, other authors disagree; the OED lists least as a synonym of fewest without any usage notes discussing this meaning.

##### Translations
#### Adverb

least (negative superlative)
* Used for forming superlatives of adjectives, especially those that do not form the superlative by adding -est.
    It was the least surprising thing.
* In the smallest or lowest degree; in a degree below all others.
    to reward those who least deserve it
    my best routine was the one I had practised the least.
    I don't much like housework, and I like cooking least.

##### Antonyms

* most

##### Translations
#### Noun

least (plural leasts)
* (philosophy) Something of the smallest possible extent; an indivisible unit.

#### Adjective

least
* (archaic, outside of fixed terms) superlative degree of little; smallest
    least weasel
    least common multiple

#### Derived terms

* at least
* at the least
* at the very least
* Fermat's principle of least time
* in the least
* last but not least
* least auklet
* least bittern
* least common denominator
* least count
* least finger
* least flycatcher
* least of all
* least resistance
* least sandpiper
* least shrew
* least significant bit
* least significant byte
* least squares
* least tern
* least upper bound
* least weasel
* least willow
* least worst
* line of least resistance
* log-linear least-squares method
* method of least squares
* not in the least
* not least
* path of least resistance
* principle of least action
* principle of least astonishment
* principle of least knowledge
* principle of least surprise
* principle of least time
* to say the least

### Etymology 2

Contraction of at least.

#### Alternative forms

* 'least

#### Prepositional phrase

least
* (informal, nonstandard) At least.
** 1876, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter VI, in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Hartford, Conn.: The American Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 65:“Why he took and dipped his hand in a rotten stump where the rain water was.” “In the day time?” “Certainly.” “With his face to the stump?” “Yes. Least I reckon so.”
** 2019 December, Justin Blackburn, The Bisexual Christian Suburban Failure Enlightening Bipolar Blues, page 79:What a stupid white privileged POS I am! Least I call myself out.

### References

* ↑ “least, adj, pron, and n, and adv.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 7 July 2019.
* “least”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

### Anagrams

* setal, steal, ETLAs, tesla, telas, Astle, tales, Tesla, salet, slate, Teals, stela, Slate, Sleat, lates, leats, laste, teals, stale, taels

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Alternative forms

* leas (non-standard since 2012)

### Verb

least
* passive infinitive of le
* passive infinitive of lea

### Anagrams

* elast, laset, laste, lesta, letas, létas, salet, salte, selta, stela, tasle, telas, tesla