little

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈlɪt.ᵊl/ (UK); /ˈlɪt̬.ᵊl/ (US)^[1][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English litel, lutel,^[3][4] inherited from Old English lȳtel (“small; not much; short”),^[5][6] from Proto-Germanic *lutilla-,^[5] perhaps originally a diminutive of the root of Old English lȳt (“little, few”).^[5][7][8] Etymonline traces it further to Proto-Indo-European *leud- (“small”), and Barnhart to a root meaning “to depress, reduce”.^[5][9] It is related to Dutch luttel and dialectal German lützel.^[5][10] The similar Old Norse lítill and Gothic 𐌻𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌹𐌻𐍃 (leitils) seem to come from a different base,^[11][12][9] though Barnhart thinks the Norse word influenced the long vowel of little in some northern dialects.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Not large; small in size or number; short in time or distance; unimportant (Old English lȳtel, about 725, in Beowulf).^[9][5]

Semantic evolution

The OED notes that little is often synonymous with small but can carry emotional implications that small cannot.^[5] It is compared with less and least, formerly and in dialect with littler and littlest.^[5][2] It was used in terms of endearment from the 1560s, and of a younger brother or sister from the 1610s.^[5] Little by little dates from the late 15th century.^[5] The phrase the little woman, a wife, is recorded from 1795, little people for fairies from 1726, for children from 1752 and for ordinary people from 1827.^[5] A little sugar replaced earlier little of sugar.^[12] Old English also had a verb lȳtlian (“to lessen, diminish”), now obsolete except in poetry.^[5][8] Later phrases include little death, orgasm (1932, translating French petite mort), little black dress (1939) and little green men (1950).^[5]

Timeline

• c. 725 – Old English lȳtel, in Beowulf.^[9]
• 1066 – litle, in the Peterborough Chronicle.^[9]
• 12th century – little while.^[5]
• late 15th century – little by little.^[5]
• 1560s – as a term of endearment.^[5]
• 1610s – younger (little brother).^[5]
• 1726 – little people, fairies.^[5]
• 1795 – the little woman.^[5]
• 1939 – little black dress.^[5]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Small in size; not big.
2. Young or younger: my little brother.
3. Short in duration or distance; brief.
4. Small in quantity or degree.
5. Unimportant; trivial.
6. Narrow-minded; petty.
7. Endearingly or contemptuously small: a cute little thing.

Determiner

1. Not much: little hope; with a, a small amount of: a little money.

Adverb

1. Not much; only slightly.
2. Not at all: little did he know.

Noun

1. A small amount or degree; a short time or distance.

Word family

• littleness

Related words

• little by little
• belittle
• less
• least
• small

Usage notes

Little is used with uncountable nouns, few with plural ones;^[2] a little stresses that there is some, while little alone stresses scarcity.^[2] According to the OED, the adjective has no recognized comparison, and littler and littlest are otherwise found in dialect or childish speech, so writers usually turn to smaller and smallest.^[2]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
3. ^ Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
10. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
12. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray