Link Centre Dictionary

least

UK/liːst/ US/list/ very common informal
adverb (1) adjective (3)

adverb

1.

used to form the superlative

  • “The garter snake is the least dangerous snake”
Synonyms
Antonyms

adjective

1.

the superlative of `little'' that can be used with mass nouns and is usually preceded by `the''; a quantifier meaning smallest in amount or extent or degree

  • “didn”
  • “;”
Antonyms
Similar
2.

minimal in magnitude

  • “lowest wages”
  • “the least amount of fat allowed”
  • “the smallest amount”
Synonyms
Similar
3.

having or being distinguished by diminutive size

  • “the least bittern”
Synonyms
Similar

Origin

The adjective, determiner, and noun are derived from Middle English leste, lest, last (“(adjective) smallest, least; (noun) smallest thing, etc.; person or thing least in importance; etc.”), from Old English lǣst, a contraction of læsast, læsest (“least”) (also lærest in only one source), from Proto-Germanic *laisistaz (“smallest, least”), from *laisiz (“less”) (possibly from Proto-Indo-European *leh₂is- or *leh₃is-; whence modern English less) + *-istaz (“suffix forming superlative forms of some adjectives”). The adverb and pronoun are derived from the adjective or determiner. cognates * Old Frisian leist * Old Saxon lēs

Phrases

  • Antigua least gecko
  • at least
  • at the least
  • at the very least
  • at very least
  • Fermat's principle of least time
  • in the least
  • last but not least
  • least auklet
  • least bittern
  • least boobook
  • least common denominator

Related words

Word family

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.