less
Language: English
Part of speech: det
Pronunciation: ipa: /lɛs/
rhymes: -ɛs
Etymology: 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.
Senses: examples: text: Those Rattels are somewhat like the chape of a Rapier, but lesse, which they take from the taile of a snake.
ref: 1624, John Smith, Generall Historie, Kupperman, published 1988, page 141:
text: 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 […].
ref: 1711, The Spectator, number 126:
text: It is also easy to see that the straight line, representing the locus of centres of buoyancy for a rectangular section, must lie at a less inclination to the base (i.e., to the horizontal) than a line representing the locus of such centres for a parabolic section […]
ref: 1885, Edward James Reed, A Treatise on the Stability of Ships:
antonyms: greater
qualifier: Now chiefly of numbers or dimensions
glosses: comparative form of little: more little; of inferior size, degree or extent; smaller, lesser.
examples: text: No less than eight pints of beer.
text: I have less tea than coffee.
text: You have even less sense than an inanimate object.
text: Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them.
ref: 2013 May-June, William E. Conner, “An Acoustic Arms Race”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, pages 206–7:
glosses: A smaller amount of; not as much.
examples: text: There are less people here now.
text: Now there are three less green bottles hanging on the wall.
text: I thinke there are few Vniuersities that haue lesse faultes than Oxford, many that haue more.
ref: 1579, Lyly, Euphues, page 208:
text: ... on his land he will have less manure, less corn, and less people; ...
ref: 1681, John Houghton, A Collection For the Improvement of Husbandry and Trade, page 263:
text: This is not a happy situation as far as the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employes is concerned because it means less jobs for the union's members here at home.
ref: 1952 September 7, Thomas M Pryor, New York Times:
text: No less than four standard-bearers went before them, carrying huge crimson banners emblazoned with the golden lion.
ref: 1999, George R.R. Martin, A Clash of Kings, Bantam, published 2011, page 555:
text: Although my hosts, G S Aviation, can teach you to fly in Wiltshire, an intensive week at their French airfield means less problems with the weather, cheap but good living, and complete removal from any distractions.
ref: 2003 December 16, Timandra Harkness, The Guardian:
glosses: Fewer; a smaller number of.
Related terms: fewer
lesser