less
A smaller amount or quantityA smaller amount or quantity.
Recorded UK: Association Shtooka, Judith Franck, CC BY 3.0 US, Wikimedia Commons · Recorded US: Dvortygirl, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
» I have at least ten books.
Ich habe mindestens zehn Bücher. — MUIRIEL
У мене є принаймні десять книжок. — deniko
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
1 senses(uncountable)A smaller amount or quantity.
Less is better.
I have less to do today than yesterday.
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”).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Lessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable
Collocations
12 patterns- at least least
- least least
- least least three
- least least once
- the least least
- least least one
- for at least
- least least thirty
- less than three
- least least a
- in less than
- that at least
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.