Source etymology 1
Original entry ↗prep
Minus; not including
noun
A smaller amount or quantity.
adj
Lesser; smaller.
det
comparative form of little: more little; of inferior size, degree or extent; smaller, lesser. · A smaller amount of; not as much. · Fewer; a smaller number of.
verb
To make less; to lessen.
adv
Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventorycomparative degree of little · Used for constructing syntactic diminutive comparatives of adjectives and adverbs. · To a smaller extent or degree.
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.
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
- Inherited-form mentionlesenm
- Inherited-form mentionlǣsang · smaller, less
- Inherited-form mention*laisizgem-pro
- Derivation mention*leys-ine-pro · to shrink, grow thin, be gentle
- Cognate mentionlēsofs · less
- Cognate mentionlēsosx · less
- Derivation mention*leh₂is-ine-pro
- Cognate mentionliesaslt · lean
- Inherited-form mentionleesenm
- Inherited-form mentionlǣssaang · less
- Inherited-form mention*laisizan-gem-pro
- Derivation mention*laisizgem-pro · smaller, lesser, fewer, lower
- Cognate mentionlessaofs · less
- Inherited-form mentionlessenenm
- Inherited-form mentionlesseenm
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "les",
"id": "less"
},
"expansion": "Middle English les"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "lǣs",
"t": "smaller, less"
},
"expansion": "Old English lǣs (“smaller, less”)"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*laisiz"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *laisiz"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*leys-",
"t": "to shrink, grow thin, be gentle"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *leys- (“to shrink, grow thin, be gentle”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "ofs",
"2": "lēs",
"t": "less"
},
"expansion": "Old Frisian lēs (“less”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "osx",
"2": "lēs",
"t": "less"
},
"expansion": "Old Saxon lēs (“less”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*leh₂is-"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *leh₂is-"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "lt",
"2": "liesas",
"t": "lean"
},
"expansion": "Lithuanian liesas (“lean”)"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "lees"
},
"expansion": "Middle English lees"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "lǣssa",
"t": "less"
},
"expansion": "Old English lǣssa (“less”)"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*laisizan-"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *laisizan-"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*laisiz",
"t": "smaller, lesser, fewer, lower"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *laisiz (“smaller, lesser, fewer, lower”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "ofs",
"2": "lessa",
"t": "less"
},
"expansion": "Old Frisian lessa (“less”)"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "lessen"
},
"expansion": "Middle English lessen"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "lesse"
},
"expansion": "Middle English lesse"
}
],
"links": [
[
"les",
"les#Middle_English:_less"
],
[
"lesse",
"lesse#Middle_English:_less"
],
[
"leasse",
"leasse#Middle_English"
],
[
"lasse",
"lasse#Middle_English:_less"
],
[
"lǣs",
"læs#Old_English"
],
[
"*laisiz",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/laisiz"
],
[
"*leys-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/leys-"
],
[
"lēs",
"les#Old_Frisian"
],
[
"lēs",
"les#Old_Saxon"
],
[
"*leh₂is-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/leh₂is-"
],
[
"liesas",
"liesas#Lithuanian"
],
[
"lees",
"lees#Middle_English"
],
[
"lesse",
"lesse#Middle_English"
],
[
"leasse",
"leasse#Middle_English"
],
[
"lasse",
"lasse#Middle_English"
],
[
"lǣssa",
"læssa#Old_English"
],
[
"*laisizan-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/laisizan-"
],
[
"*laisiz",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/laisiz"
],
[
"lessa",
"lessa#Old_Frisian"
],
[
"lessen",
"lessen#Middle_English"
],
[
"lesse",
"lesse#Middle_English"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "prep",
"glosses": [
"Minus; not including"
],
"tags": [],
"recordId": "06ac380ad58211e36a66519a884874fbc515c1cb0d48ead71484ee7241061ccb",
"rawRecordSha256": "b5c871a7865228336b9df43632881f1a96db588bacce492b9b2fe7c621c28df7",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 162079
},
{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"A smaller amount or quantity."
],
"tags": [
"uncountable"
],
"recordId": "4b9a589c25b14b0880cf0fff51c2d2f6120b943f0d0e7f9bb6a6f8597b95c686",
"rawRecordSha256": "d572a6c12a4bdd94dbf15346753378bc326fb42616d091bb308baa7289bab432",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 162082
},
{
"pos": "adj",
"glosses": [
"Lesser; smaller."
],
"tags": [
"archaic",
"not-comparable"
],
"recordId": "88573c546aa1e0f3cb3241e300515307a7924801ad1e330281c569ce87776175",
"rawRecordSha256": "65631eddd7fbe34635049df8711aa1d547fba6191c0362e57612dbf6c0a73296",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 162081
},
{
"pos": "det",
"glosses": [
"comparative form of little: more little; of inferior size, degree or extent; smaller, lesser.",
"A smaller amount of; not as much.",
"Fewer; a smaller number of."
],
"tags": [
"comparative",
"form-of",
"proscribed"
],
"recordId": "97d4357bc87ee5d9ececdcc547bf8fb33763231f316570d767e04e1885072283",
"rawRecordSha256": "f0f92bba9979b663f83adc8825e61c6917c49dad788b89d8e7ad11ce066368b2",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 162078
},
{
"pos": "verb",
"glosses": [
"To make less; to lessen."
],
"tags": [
"archaic"
],
"recordId": "b6f5043e35e99294bed0364808358c2eb87383cbc545b572532ce18c95ad0d0a",
"rawRecordSha256": "ec0032f3ca72a2dc1ad3cd426351adfb216237eac79a0f8f355c73c860914e8f",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 162080
},
{
"pos": "adv",
"glosses": [
"comparative degree of little",
"Used for constructing syntactic diminutive comparatives of adjectives and adverbs.",
"To a smaller extent or degree."
],
"tags": [
"comparative",
"diminutive",
"form-of"
],
"recordId": "e13301222266835deea7d75f21d3a7a48ef5bfe3e1913c96f2a97071792fd321",
"rawRecordSha256": "ace4fc4616f1c21d37c3c35c4389a15365e72945ff5f828028b3afc473dafcd2",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 162077
}
],
"omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
"templates": 0,
"links": 0,
"references": 0,
"descendants": 0,
"lexicalRecords": 0,
"lexicalSenses": 0,
"glosses": 0
}
}