little

Etymology

From Middle English litel, from Old English lȳtel, from Proto-West Germanic *lūtil, from Proto-Germanic *lūtilaz (“tending to stoop, crouched, little”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewd- (“to bend, bent, small”), equivalent to lout + -le. Cognate with Dutch luttel, regional German lütt and lützel, West Frisian lyts, Low German lütt, Old High German luzzil, Middle High German lützel, Old English lūtan (“to bow, bend low”); and perhaps to Old English lytig (“deceitful, lot deceit”), Gothic 𐌻𐌹𐌿𐍄𐍃 (liuts, “deceitful”), 𐌻𐌿𐍄𐌾𐌰𐌽 (lutjan, “to deceive”); compare also Icelandic lítill (“little”), Swedish liten, Danish liden, lille, Gothic 𐌻𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌹𐌻𐍃 (leitils), which appear to have a different root vowel. More at lout.

adj

1. Small in size.
   This is a little table.
2. Insignificant, trivial.
   Across Japan, technology companies and private investors are racing to install devices that until recently they had little interest in: solar panels. Massive solar parks are popping up as part of a rapid build-up that one developer likened to an "explosion." 2013-06-21, Chico Harlan, “Japan pockets the subsidy …”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 2, page 30
   It's of little importance.
   1. (offensive) Used to belittle a person.
      Listen up, you little shit.
3. Very young.
   Did he tell you any embarrassing stories about when she was little?
   That's the biggest little boy I've ever seen.
4. (of a sibling) Younger.
   This is my little sister.
5. (often capitalized) Used with the name of a place, especially of a country or its capital, to denote a neighborhood whose residents or storekeepers are from that place.
   If you want to find Little France, take any turning on the north side of Leicester square, and wander in a zigzag fashion Oxford Streetwards. The Little is rather smokier and more squalid than the Great France upon the other side of the Manche. 1871 October 18, The One-eyed Philosopher [pseudonym], "Street Corners", in Judy: or the London serio-comic journal, volume 9, page 255 http://books.google.com/books?id=_B4oAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA255
   In the forties, hurdy-gurdy men could still be heard in all those East Coast cities with strong Italian neighbourhoods: New York, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Boston. A visit to Baltimore's Little Italy at that time was like a trip to Italy itself. 2004, Barry Miles, Zappa: A Biography, edition, published 2005, page 5
   "The theatre was bought by the Croatian immigrants as so many immigrants came here in the ’30s and mostly for mining jobs, but in Schumacher itself it was called little Zagreb, and Zagreb is the capital city of Croatia. There were so many of them that they wanted to have their own little community, so they bought the theatre and they renovated it at that time, remodelled it and made it into a Croatian Hall," she explained. 2020, Richa Bhosale, “Croatian Hall in need of repairs to remain open”, in Timmins Daily Press
   1. (derogatory) To imply that the inhabitants of the place have an insular attitude and are hostile to those they perceive as foreign.
      2012, Comedian Steve Coogan on Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre, He is the embodiment of Fleet Street bullying, using his newspaper to peddle his Little-England, curtain-twitching Alan Partridgesque view of the world, which manages to combine sanctimonious, pompous moralising and prurient, voyeuristic, judgmental obsession:
6. Having few members.
   little herd
7. (of an industry or other field, or institution(s) therein, often capitalized) Operating on a small scale.
   Little Steel (smaller steel companies, as contrasted with Big Steel)
   Little Science (science performed by individuals or small teams, as contrasted with Big Science)
8. Short in duration; brief.
   I feel better after my little sleep.
9. Small in extent of views or sympathies; narrow; shallow; contracted; mean; illiberal; ungenerous.
   Showing unmistakably what a little person he really was, in June 1949 he wrote his newly married daughter with nauseating disregard for the truth 2001, Nicholas Petsalis-Diomidis, The Unknown Callas: the Greek Years, page 547

adv

1. Not much.
   This is a little known fact.  She spoke little and listened less.
   We slept very little last night.
2. Not at all.
   I was speaking ill of Fred; little did I know that he was right behind me, listening in.
   But as United saw the game out, little did they know that, having looked likely to win their 13th Premier League title, it was City who turned the table to snatch glory from their arch-rivals' grasp. May 13, 2012, Alistair Magowan, “Sunderland 0-1 Man Utd”, in BBC Sport

det

1. Not much, only a little: only a small amount (of).
   There is (very) little water left.
   We had very little to do.

pron

1. Not much; not a large amount.
   Little is known about his early life.

noun

1. (chiefly uncountable or in the singular) A small amount.
   Can I try a little of that sauce?
   Little did he do to make me comfortable.
   If you want some cake, there's a little in the refrigerator
   Many littles make a mickle. (Scottish proverb)
2. (countable, informal) A child; particularly an infant.
3. (countable, university slang) A newly initiated member of a sorority, who is mentored by a big.
   He was there the night of Cristoph's party. All the littles were assigned to their bigs. Ian and Christoph had rushed the same fraternity. When they became upperclassmen, they both ended up on the board. 2018, Kelly Ann Gonzales, Through an Opaque Window
   She added that the relationship between bigs and littles is "what each pair makes of it," and that a lot of the pairs often get dinner together and become close friends. 2019-04-01, Audrey Steinkamp, “Sororities pair new members with "bigs"”, in Yale Daily News
   Some traditions of the chapter include lineages with bigs and littles, receiving of paddles from a big, and a national stroll, Wolsch-Gallia said. 2022-09-27, Shreya Varrier, “Gamma Rho Lambda provides LGBTQIA+ community in greek life”, in Iowa State Daily
4. (countable, BDSM) The participant in ageplay who acts out the younger role.
5. (countable) One who has mentally age regressed to a childlike state.
   People with [dissociative identity] disorder frequently have a younger personality among their distinctive personalities. However, it’s believed that the "little" may not be a separate personality. Instead, it may be a regressed version of the original personality. 2019-08-30, Kimberly Holland, Healthline