From Middle English litel, from Old English lyttel, lȳtel, from Proto-West Germanic *lūtil, from Proto-Germanic *lūtilaz, from Proto-Indo-European *lewd-, equivalent to .

• (RP) IPA: /ˈlɪtl̩/, [ˈlɪtʰɫ̩]
• (America) IPA: /ˈlɪt(ə)l/, [ˈlɪɾɫ̩], [ˈɫɪɾɫ̩]
• (Australia) IPA: /ˈlɪt(ə)l/, [ˈlɪɾɫ̩]
• (New Zealand) IPA: /ˈlɘtl̩/

little (comparative less, superlative least)

1. Small in size.

   This is a little table.

   1. Small and underdeveloped, particularly (of a male) in the genitals.

      Synonyms: small, under-endowed

2. Insignificant, trivial.

   It’s of little importance.

   • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC ↗, Canto XXXVII, page 57 ↗:

     Urania speaks with darken’d brow:
     ⁠‘Thou pratest here where thou art least;
     ⁠This faith has many a purer priest,
     And many an abler voice than thou: […] ’

   1. (offensive) Used to belittle a person.

      Listen up, you little shit.

3. Very young, of childhood age.

   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.
   • 1871 October 18, The One-eyed Philosopher [pseudonym], "Street Corners", in Judy: or the London serio-comic journal, volume 9, page 255 :

     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.

   • 2020, Richa Bhosale, “Croatian Hall in need of repairs to remain open ↗”, in Timmins Daily Press:

     “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.

   1. (derogatory) To imply that the inhabitants of the place have an insular attitude and are hostile to those they perceive as foreign.
      • 2012, Steve Coogan ↗, 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.
   • 1855, Alfred Tennyson, “Maud”, in Maud, and Other Poems, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC ↗, page 20 ↗:

     The long-necked geese of the world that are ever hissing dispraise, / Because their natures are little.

• (antonym(s) of “small”): large, big
• (antonym(s) of “young”): big
• (antonym(s) of “younger”): big

• French: petit
• German: klein, wenig, (colloquial) lütt, lützel
• Italian: piccolo
• Portuguese: pequeno
• Russian: ма́ленький
• Spanish: pequeño

• French: peu, pas beaucoup de
• Italian: poco
• Portuguese: menor, pequeno
• Spanish: poco, menor

• German: klein
• Portuguese: pequenino
• Russian: ма́ленький
• Spanish: pequeño

• French: cadet
• German: klein, jung
• Italian: piccolo
• Portuguese: mais novo
• Russian: мла́дший

• German: wenig
• Portuguese: pequeno, pouco
• Spanish: poco

little (comparative less, superlative least)

1. Not much.

   This is a little known fact.

   She spoke little and listened less.

   We slept very little last night.

   • 1914 November, Louis Joseph Vance, “An Outsider […]”, in Munsey's Magazine, volume LIII, number II, New York, N.Y.: The Frank A[ndrew] Munsey Company, […], published 1915, →OCLC ↗, chapter I (Anarchy), page 373 ↗, column 2:

     Little disappointed, then, she turned attention to “Chat of the Social World,” gossip which exercised potent fascination upon the girl’s intelligence. She devoured with more avidity than she had her food those pretentiously phrased chronicles of the snobocracy—[…]—distilling therefrom an acid envy that robbed her napoleon of all its flavor.

2. Not at all.

   I was speaking ill of Fred; little did I know that he was right behind me, listening in.

   • 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC ↗:

     But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection. ¶ […] The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window […], and a ‘bead’ could be drawn upon Molly, the dairymaid, kissing the fogger behind the hedge, little dreaming that the deadly tube was levelled at them.

• much

• French: peu
• German: wenig, kaum
• Italian: poco
• Portuguese: pouco
• Russian: ма́ло
• Spanish: poco, poquito

1. Not much, only a little: only a small amount (of).

   There is (very) little water left.

   We had very little to do.

• (antonym(s) of “not much”): much

• French: peu, peu de
• German: wenig
• Italian: poco
• Portuguese: pouco
• Russian: ма́ло
• Spanish: poco

1. Not much; not a large amount.

   Little is known about his early life.

little

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.

2. (countable, informal) A child, particularly an infant.
3. An adult in a child-like role, or in the more junior of two paired roles.

   Antonyms: big

   1. (countable, university slang) A newly initiated member of a sorority or fraternity, who is mentored by a big.
   2. (countable, BDSM, ABDL) The participant in ageplay who acts out the younger role.
   3. (countable) One who has mentally age regressed to a childlike state.
4. Short for little go (“type of examination”).

   I go up for my Little tomorrow.

• a little
• li'l, li'l', lil
• little by little
• little old
• belittle (cognate verb)

1. Surname.
2. An unincorporated community in Breathitt County, Kentucky, named after the local Little family.
3. An unincorporated community in Tyler County, West Virginia.