Meaning
1 senses(archaic, not comparable)Lesser; smaller.
- (comparative of ‘little’ usually used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning not as great in amount or degree
- (nonstandard in some uses but often idiomatic with measure phrases) fewer
- (usually preceded by ‘no’) lower in quality
Examples
4010 sentencesI have at least ten books.
У мене є принаймні десять книжок. — deniko
deIch habe mindestens zehn Bücher. — MUIRIEL
That's the least of my problems.
Це найменша з моїх проблем. — deniko
We've got less than an hour.
У нас менше години. — deniko
ruУ нас меньше часа. — odexed
deUns bleibt weniger als eine Stunde. — Pfirsichbaeumchen
The less you know, the better, OK?
Чим менше ти знаєш, тим краще, гаразд? — deniko
That probably cost less than a dollar.
Це, мабуть, коштувало менше долара. — deniko
Origin
Adverb From Middle English les, lesse, leasse, lasse, from Old English lǣs (“smaller, lessAdverb 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”).
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