less

Meanings

1. 1
   adv

   To a smaller degree; not as much.

   I walk less than I should.

2. 2
   adv

   Used to form the comparative of adjectives and adverbs, meaning not as.

   This book is less interesting than the last one.

3. 3
   det

   A smaller amount of something.

   Try to eat less sugar.

Appears in

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, few…

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