Source etymology 1
Original entry ↗Preceded by the: superlative form of little: most little; the lowest-ranking or most insignificant person or (sometimes) group of people. · Something of the smallest possible extent; an indivisible unit; a minimum.
Chiefly preceded by the: superlative form of little: most little; the smallest amount or extent of something.
In a degree below all others; in the lowest or smallest degree. · Used to form superlatives of adjectives, especially those that do not form the superlative by adding -est.
Smallest in amount or extent. · Followed by a plural noun: the smallest number of; the fewest. · Any, no matter how small in amount or extent.
Chiefly used with abstract nouns: less than all others in extent or size; littlest, smallest. · Of two or more animals or plants with the same name: the smaller or smallest. · Lowest in importance or status; most insignificant or unimportant. · Followed by an agent noun: of a person: who does some action to the smallest degree.
The adjective, determiner, and noun are derived from Middle English leste, lest, last (“(adjective) smallest, least; (noun) smallest thing, etc.; person or thing least in importance; etc.”), from Old English lǣst, a contraction of læsast, læsest (“least”) (also lærest in only one source), from Proto-Germanic *laisistaz (“smallest, least”), from *laisiz (“less”) (possibly from Proto-Indo-European *leh₂is- or *leh₃is-; whence modern English less) + *-istaz (“suffix forming superlative forms of some adjectives”). The adverb and pronoun are derived from the adjective or determiner. cognates * Old Frisian leist * Old Saxon lēs
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
- Root classification mention*leh₂is-ine-pro
- Root classification mention*leh₃is-ine-pro
- Inherited-form mentionlesteenm
- Inherited-form mentionlǣstang
- Inherited-form mention*laisistazgem-pro · smallest, least
- Inherited-form mention*leh₂is-ine-pro
- Cognate mentionlessen
- Cognate mentionleistofs
- Cognate mentionlēsosx
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "root",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*leh₂is-",
"4": "*leh₃is-"
},
"expansion": ""
},
{
"name": "lg",
"args": {
"1": "adjective"
},
"expansion": "adjective"
},
{
"name": "lg",
"args": {
"1": "determiner"
},
"expansion": "determiner"
},
{
"name": "lg",
"args": {
"1": "noun"
},
"expansion": "noun"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "leste"
},
"expansion": "Middle English leste"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "lǣst"
},
"expansion": "Old English lǣst"
},
{
"name": "quote-gloss",
"args": {
"1": "comparative"
},
"expansion": "[comparative]"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*laisistaz",
"t": "smallest, least"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *laisistaz (“smallest, least”)"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*leh₂is-"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *leh₂is-"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "less"
},
"expansion": "English less"
},
{
"name": "lg",
"args": {
"1": "suffix"
},
"expansion": "suffix"
},
{
"name": "lg",
"args": {
"1": "superlative"
},
"expansion": "superlative"
},
{
"name": "lg",
"args": {
"1": "adverb"
},
"expansion": "adverb"
},
{
"name": "lg",
"args": {
"1": "pronoun"
},
"expansion": "pronoun"
},
{
"name": "col-top",
"args": {
"1": "2",
"2": "cognates"
},
"expansion": "cognates"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "ofs",
"2": "leist"
},
"expansion": "Old Frisian leist"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "osx",
"2": "lēs"
},
"expansion": "Old Saxon lēs"
}
],
"links": [
[
"leste",
"leste#Middle_English"
],
[
"lest",
"lest#Middle_English"
],
[
"last",
"last#Middle_English"
],
[
"lǣst",
"læst#Old_English"
],
[
"læsast",
"læsast#Old_English"
],
[
"læsest",
"læsest#Old_English"
],
[
"lærest",
"lærest#Old_English"
],
[
"*laisistaz",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/laisistaz"
],
[
"*laisiz",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/laisiz"
],
[
"*leh₂is-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/leh₂is-"
],
[
"*leh₃is-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/leh₃is-"
],
[
"less",
"less#English"
],
[
"*-istaz",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/-istaz"
],
[
"leist",
"leist#Old_Frisian"
],
[
"lēs",
"les#Old_Saxon"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"Preceded by the: superlative form of little: most little; the lowest-ranking or most insignificant person or (sometimes) group of people.",
"Something of the smallest possible extent; an indivisible unit; a minimum."
],
"tags": [],
"recordId": "07bd4a7f6ce89aabacdba08a486ef43b715b301bc7bed4af5a4d5c07a1890c69",
"rawRecordSha256": "91b4d47441380f85fc4bc8fe3ca05015959e3b944628af62d02980ddab7c480b",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 162098
},
{
"pos": "pron",
"glosses": [
"Chiefly preceded by the: superlative form of little: most little; the smallest amount or extent of something."
],
"tags": [],
"recordId": "7b03a8e4200495990a909fc521e6b477f7831f2ad4442b849cc763c4e0c2917e",
"rawRecordSha256": "13fdb9ca5339fb39dc0d0f3da80509d7e43cf00a9574d87a7ba6e7de1a4b5b9d",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 162099
},
{
"pos": "adv",
"glosses": [
"In a degree below all others; in the lowest or smallest degree.",
"Used to form superlatives of adjectives, especially those that do not form the superlative by adding -est."
],
"tags": [
"negative",
"superlative"
],
"recordId": "a68f91759e63ad930f16a5108df87b32e359d56506bfa52d1ac5122a3b83f370",
"rawRecordSha256": "3d1c415ac57892136ca63dfa364deb6eba35d78d11a6e1da6439c5181e48067c",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 162097
},
{
"pos": "det",
"glosses": [
"Smallest in amount or extent.",
"Followed by a plural noun: the smallest number of; the fewest.",
"Any, no matter how small in amount or extent."
],
"tags": [],
"recordId": "b0b76f1b5ad4ec767a57ce129baf9ca3b8d7017fa2c0f058396a3989cd553425",
"rawRecordSha256": "51af095cedae487c48697343020ef803c9995b0c61e495dda5f938bceeac2b5f",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 162096
},
{
"pos": "adj",
"glosses": [
"Chiefly used with abstract nouns: less than all others in extent or size; littlest, smallest.",
"Of two or more animals or plants with the same name: the smaller or smallest.",
"Lowest in importance or status; most insignificant or unimportant.",
"Followed by an agent noun: of a person: who does some action to the smallest degree."
],
"tags": [
"archaic",
"obsolete"
],
"recordId": "b68f61d1afb5283c4454cab2377e21a10dd628fe608d144f2b1d6f26b3495c16",
"rawRecordSha256": "1c9d21479a33590b19bc8900444147cef3535e887e99dd95867dee9a2c67d0b8",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 162095
}
],
"omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
"templates": 0,
"links": 0,
"references": 0,
"descendants": 0,
"lexicalRecords": 0,
"lexicalSenses": 0,
"glosses": 0
}
}