little

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   faint or difficult to hear

   Because I am shy, some say I speak with too little a voice.

2. 2
   adj

   lowercase

   little a

3. 3
   adj

   young, immature

   That's a little cat you've got there.

4. 4
   noun

   a small amount or duration

   They accepted the little we gave them without complaint.

5. 5
   adv

   not very much

   We talked little about our families.

6. 6
   adj

   small in a way that arouses feelings (of tenderness or its opposite depending on the context)

   a nice little job

7. 7
   adj

   limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent

   a little dining room

8. 8
   adj

   Small, not large, limited

   This is a little table.

Etymology

From Middle English litel, litell, luitel, lutel, lutil, luytel, from Old English lȳtel, lyttel, from Proto-West Germanic *lūtil (“little”), from *lūtan (“to bow down, lout”), from Proto-Germanic *lūtaną (“to bow down, lout”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewd- (“to bend, crouch, duck”), equivalent to lout + -le. Cognates Cognate with Yola lethel, litha, lithel, lythea (“little”), North Frisian letj (“little, small”), Saterland Frisian litje (“little, small”), West Frisian lyts (“little, small”), Dutch luttel (“few, little, mere”), German lütt, lützel (“little, small”), Low German lütt, lüttje (“…