Word: little Part of Speech: adj Etymology: From Middle English litel, litell, luitel, lutel, lutil, luytel, from Old English lȳtel, lyttel, from Proto-West Germanic *lūtil (“little”), from *lūtan (“to bow down, lout”), from Proto-Germanic *lūtaną (“to bow down, lout”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewd- (“to bend, crouch, duck”), equivalent to lout + -le. Cognates Cognate with Yola lethel, litha, lithel, lythea (“little”), North Frisian letj (“little, small”), Saterland Frisian litje (“little, small”), West Frisian lyts (“little, small”), Dutch luttel (“few, little, mere”), German lütt, lützel (“little, small”), Low German lütt, lüttje (“little, small”), Danish liden, lille (“little, small”), Elfdalian litn (“small”), Faroese lítil (“little, small”), Icelandic lítill (“little, small”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish liten (“little, small”), Crimean Gothic lista (“insufficient, very little”), Gothic 𐌻𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌹𐌻𐍃 (leitils, “little, small”); also Albanian lus, lut (“to beg, plead, request”), Lithuanian liūdnas (“sad, sorrowful”), Bulgarian and Macedonian луд (lud, “crazy, insane, mad”), Serbo-Croatian лу̑д, lȗd (“crazy”). Related also to Old English lūtan (“to bow, bend low”); and perhaps to Old English lytiġ (“deceitful”), Gothic 𐌻𐌹𐌿𐍄𐍃 (liuts, “deceitful”). More at lout. Pronunciation: /ˈlɪ.tl̩/, [ˈlɪ.ɾɫ̩], /ˈlɘ.tl̩/, /lɪʈl̩/, [lɪʈ.ɐl] 1. Small, not large, limited, particularly Example: Not that she cared twopence for the enormous sum, really, now that concord was established! No, her little flutters of honest remorse were constantly disappearing in the immense exultant joy of being alive and of contemplating her idol. 2. Small, not large, limited Example: This is a little table. 3. Small, not large, limited Example: It’s only a little ways now. 4. Small, not large, limited Example: I always feel better after a little sleep. 5. Small, not large, limited Example: Where's the little boys' room? 6. Small, not large, limited Labels: especially Example: You may be an Olympic weightlifter but you're still my little sister. 7. Small, not large, limited Example: "You are a little, little man," she proclaimed, staring obviously below my waist as she pronounced the second "little." It was almost disappointing. I'd heard that one before, but it still left a new scar each time. 8. Small, not large, limited Example: That's a mighty little herd you've got there. 9. Small, not large, limited Example: It’s of little importance. Example: Urania speaks with darken’d brow: ⁠‘Thou pratest here where thou art least; ⁠This faith has many a purer priest, And many an abler voice than thou: […]’ 10. Small, not large, limited Labels: offensive Example: Listen up, you little shit. 11. Small, not large, limited Labels: capitalized, often Example: 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. Example: 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. 12. Small, not large, limited Labels: capitalized, derogatory, often Example: 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 13. Small, not large, limited Labels: derogatory Example: A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. Example: The long-necked geese of the world that are ever hissing dispraise, / Because their natures are little. 14. Small, not large, limited Labels: capitalized, figuratively, often Example: Little Science vs Big Science... Little Steel vs Big Steel...