little
Part of speech: adj
adv
det
pron
Morphological type: derivation
Topics: business
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.
Base: lout
Affixes: -le
Inflected forms:
form: littler
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: lesser
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: littlest
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: least
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: lil
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: li'l
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: li'l'
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: lit'l
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: leetle
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: lettle
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: lickle
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: luttle
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: luttul
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: laitle
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: laahtle
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: lahtle
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: laitil
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: leytel
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: liddle
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: litle
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: lytel
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: laatle
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: littel
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: lyttil
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: lytil
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: lyttel
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: lytyl
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: litel
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: lytell
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: litell
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: litille
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: lyttill
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: lyttyll
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: lytyle
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: lytyll
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: lytylle
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: litile
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: lutle
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: litil
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: litill
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: littill
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: lityll
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: lytill
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: lytle
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: lyttell
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: littell
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: laytell
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: letill
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: letle
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: lettel
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: lettell
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: lickell
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: lityle
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: lytlle
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: lyttyll
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: lyttle
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: less
pos: adv
tags: comparative
form: lesser
pos: adv
tags: comparative
form: least
pos: adv
tags: superlative
form: lil
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: li'l
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: li'l'
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: lit'l
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: leetle
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: lettle
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: lickle
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: luttle
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: luttul
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: laitle
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: laahtle
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: lahtle
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: laitil
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: leytel
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: liddle
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: litle
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: lytel
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: laatle
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: littel
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: lyttil
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: lytil
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: lyttel
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: lytyl
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: litel
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: lytell
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: litell
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: litille
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: lyttill
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: lyttyll
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: lytyle
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: lytyll
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: lytylle
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: litile
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: lutle
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: litil
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: litill
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: littill
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: lityll
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: lytill
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: lytle
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: lyttell
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: littell
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: laytell
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: letill
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: letle
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: lettel
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: lettell
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: lickell
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: lityle
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: lytlle
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: lyttyll
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: lyttle
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: less
pos: det
tags: comparative
form: least
pos: det
tags: superlative
form: lil
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: li'l
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: li'l'
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: lit'l
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: leetle
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: lettle
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: lickle
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: luttle
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: luttul
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: laitle
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: laahtle
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: lahtle
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: laitil
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: leytel
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: liddle
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: litle
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: lytel
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: laatle
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: littel
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: lyttil
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: lytil
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: lyttel
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: lytyl
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: litel
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: lytell
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: litell
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: litille
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: lyttill
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: lyttyll
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: lytyle
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: lytyll
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: lytylle
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: litile
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: lutle
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: litil
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: litill
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: littill
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: lityll
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: lytill
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: lytle
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: lyttell
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: littell
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: laytell
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: letill
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: letle
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: lettel
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: lettell
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: lickell
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: lityle
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: lytlle
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: lyttyll
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: lyttle
pos: det
tags: alternative
form: lil
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: li'l
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: li'l'
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: lit'l
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: leetle
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: lettle
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: lickle
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: luttle
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: luttul
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: laitle
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: laahtle
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: lahtle
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: laitil
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: leytel
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: liddle
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: litle
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: lytel
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: laatle
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: littel
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: lyttil
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: lytil
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: lyttel
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: lytyl
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: litel
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: lytell
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: litell
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: litille
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: lyttill
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: lyttyll
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: lytyle
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: lytyll
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: lytylle
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: litile
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: lutle
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: litil
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: litill
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: littill
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: lityll
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: lytill
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: lytle
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: lyttell
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: littell
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: laytell
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: letill
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: letle
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: lettel
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: lettell
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: lickell
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: lityle
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: lytlle
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: lyttyll
pos: pron
tags: alternative
form: lyttle
pos: pron
tags: alternative
Senses:
gloss: Small, not large, limited
pos: adj
examples: This is a little table.
gloss: Small, not large, limited
pos: adj
examples: It’s only a little ways now.
gloss: Small, not large, limited
pos: adj
examples: I always feel better after a little sleep.
gloss: Small, not large, limited
pos: adj
examples: Where's the little boys' room?
gloss: Small, not large, limited
pos: adj
tags: especially
examples: You may be an Olympic weightlifter but you're still my little sister.
gloss: Small, not large, limited
pos: adj
examples: "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.
gloss: Small, not large, limited
pos: adj
examples: That's a mighty little herd you've got there.
gloss: Small, not large, limited
pos: adj
examples: It’s of little importance.
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: […]’
gloss: Small, not large, limited
pos: adj
tags: offensive
examples: Listen up, you little shit.
gloss: Small, not large, limited
pos: adj
tags: capitalized
often
examples: 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.
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.
“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.
gloss: Small, not large, limited
pos: adj
tags: capitalized
derogatory
often
examples: 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
gloss: Small, not large, limited
pos: adj
tags: derogatory
examples: A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.
The long-necked geese of the world that are ever hissing dispraise, / Because their natures are little.
Showing unmistakably what a little person he really was, in June 1949 he wrote his newly married daughter with nauseating disregard for the truth
gloss: Small, not large, limited
pos: adj
tags: capitalized
figuratively
often
examples: Little Science vs Big Science... Little Steel vs Big Steel...
gloss: Not much.
pos: adv
examples: This is a little-known fact: the new model is little faster than the old one.
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 flavor.
gloss: Not at all.
pos: adv
examples: Little did he know that the burglar was creeping upstairs at that very moment.
She little knew what awaited her.
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.
gloss: Not much, only a little: only a small amount (of).
pos: det
examples: There is (very) little water left.
We had very little to do.
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.”
gloss: Not much; not a large amount.
pos: pron
examples: Little is known about his early life.
Antonyms: big
old
much
Related words: a little
Derived words: a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds
a little bird told me
a little bit
a little bit of bread and no cheese
a little from column A and a little from column B
a little goes a long way
a little knowledge is a dangerous thing
a little learning is a dangerous thing
a little matter
a little of something goes a long way
a little of the creature
a little pot is soon hot
and your little dog too
big fish eat little fish
big fish in a little pond
big-fish-little-pond effect
bless someone's little cotton socks
busy little beaver
by little and little
cry like a little girl
do a little bit of trolling
do a little trolling
do-little
don't worry your pretty little head
every little bit helps
every little helps
Fermat's little theorem
fighting little judge
Gowrie Little Plain
grandlittle
Great and Little Hampden
Great and Little Leighs
great cry and little wool
great oaks from little acorns grow
happy little vegemite
have-a-little
have little time for
how's every little thing
in a little while
in little
in one's own little way
in one's own little world
I spy with my little eye
LBFM
leave little to the imagination
Lighthill
Lightle
Lightley
Litle
Littel
Littell
Little
Little Armenia
little auk
Little Back Creek
Little Baguio
Little Barford
little barley
Little Bay
Little Bealings
Little Belt
Little Berlin
Little Billabong
Little Billing
Little Billington
Little Bispham
little bit
little bittern
little black ant
little black book
little black cormorant
little black dress
little black serotine
Little Black Spot Mesa
Little Black Spot Mountain
little blue man
little blue pill
little bluestem
little bluestem grass
Little Bokhara
Little Bookham
Little Bourton
Little Bowden
little boy
little boy's room
little boys' room
little boys room
Little Brampton
Little Brickhill
Little Bridgeford
Little Britain
little bronze cuckoo
little brother
little brown bat
little brown dove
little brown job
little brown jug
Little Buenos Aires
little bunting
little bush moa
little bustard
little by little
Little Bytham
little casino
little cassino
Little Chalfont
Little Chesterford
Little Christmas
Little Clacton
Little Colorado River
Little Comberton
Little Compton
little corella
Little Crater Lake
Little Dalby
Little Desert
Little Dewchurch
little Dick
little Dick Fisher
little did one know
Little Dipper
little dodo
little dog syndrome
Little Douglas
Little Downham
Little Dunham
Little Dunmow
little-ease
Little Easton
Little Eaton
little egret
little Eichmann
Little Elbow
little emperor
little emperor syndrome
little-endian
Little England
Little England beyond Wales
Little Englander
Little Falls
little finger
little fingernail
little folk
Little Forest
Little France
little friarbird
little friend
littlefur
Little Gem
little girl
little-girlish
little girls' room
little girls room
little girl's room
little go
little-go
little grebe
little green bee-eater
little green man
Little Grove
little gull
little guy
Little Hadham
Littlehampton
Little Hampton
little hand
Little Harrowden
Little Hartley
little hat
Little Havana
Little Haven
Littlehaven
little head
Little Hereford
Little Houghton
little hour
little house
Little Hulton
Little Ice Age
Little Ilford
littlein
Little Irchester
Little Island
Little Italy
little Ivy
Little Jacks Creek
Little Jilliby
little Johnny
Little Kimble
little-known
little lady
little language
littleleaf
Little London
little lorikeet
Little Lumley
little lunch
little mad
Little Malvern
little man
little man in the boat
Little Marlow
Little Massingham
little mester
little millet
Little Mill
Littlemill
little-minded
little minivet
Little Missenden
Little Missouri
little monster
Little Monster
Little Mountain
Little Mulgrave
Little Munden
Little Murray
little nail
little name
littleneck
Little Ness
littleness
Little Oakley
little office
little old
little ol'
little ole
little old me
little one
Little Optimum
Little Osage
Little Ouse
little owl
Little Packington
Little Palestine
little peach
Little Pelican
little penguin
little people
little person
Little Petherick
little piecer
Little Pine Lagoon
little pink
little pitcher
little pitchers have big ears
little pitchers have long ears
Little Plain
Little Ponton
Little Ponton and Stroxton
little professor
Little Ramallah
little raven
Little Red Book
little red dot
Little Red Riding-Hood
Little Rhody
little ringed plover
Little River
Little River-Academy
Little Rock
little rock wallaby
Little Russia
Little Russian
Little Saigon
Little Salkeld
Little Sandy Desert
little school
Little Scotland
Little Shelford
little shit
little sib
little sibling
Little Silver
little sis
little sister
little slam
little slick
Little Smeaton
Little Snoring
Little Sodbury
Little Somerford
little spiderhunter
little spoon
little spotted cat
little spotted kiwi
little stint
Little Stoke
Little Stour
Little Strickland
little strokes fell great oaks
little summer of St. Luke
little summer of St Luke
Little Sutton
little swimmer
little tern
Little Tew
Little Thetford
little Timmy
little tinamou
little toe
little toenail
Little Tokyo
Littleton
Little Topar
Little Traverse
little tunny
little-used
little v
Little Valley
Little Venice
Little Village
Little Walsingham
Little Weighton
Little Welnetham
Little Wenlock
Little Whelnetham
little white lie
little white mushroom
little white shakers syndrome
Little Wilbraham
Little Wobby
little woman
little wonder
Little Wratting
Little Yeldham
littlie
littling
littlish
littlun
littly
litty
live a little
Lytle
Lyttelton
Lyttle
make little of
mighty oaks from little acorns grow
mother's little helper
My Little Pony
Newton and Little Oakley
NoLIta
not a little
oh me of little faith
oh ye of little faith
O me of little faith
one little duck
O ye of little faith
poor little meow meow
poor little rich boy
poor little rich girl
precious little
say hello to my little friend
show a little ginger
some little matter
South Littleton
take one's sweet little time
tall oaks from little acorns grow
think little of
think with one's little head
to little avail
twist around one's little finger
two little ducks
unlittle
wind around one's little finger
wrap around one's little finger
ye gods and little fishes
ye of little faith
Translations:
lang: Bulgarian
word: незначи́телен
roman: neznačítelen
lang: Catalan
word: mica
lang: French
word: peu
lang: French
word: pas beaucoup de
lang: Italian
word: poco
lang: Portuguese
word: menor
lang: Portuguese
word: pequeno
lang: Quechua
word: tumpa
lang: Quechua
word: wallka
lang: Sicilian
word: muḍḍica
lang: Sicilian
word: stizza
lang: Sicilian
word: tanticchia
lang: Spanish
word: poco
lang: Spanish
word: menor
lang: Swedish
word: ringa
lang: Swedish
word: föga
lang: Ottoman Turkish
word: آز
roman: az