Factsheet
What does the word little mean?
There are 50 meanings listed in OED's entry for the word little, four of which are labelled obsolete. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.
little has developed meanings and uses in subjects including
plants (Old English) taxonomy (Old English) dressmaking (early 1600s) tailoring (early 1600s)
How common is the word little?
About 400occurrences per million words in modern written English
See frequency
How is the word little pronounced?
British English
/ˈlɪtl/
LIT-uhl
U.S. English
/ˈlɪd(ə)l/
LID-uhl
See pronunciation
Where does the word little come from?
Earliest known use
Old English
The earliest known use of the word little is in the Old English period (pre-1150).
It is also recorded as a verb from the Old English period (pre-1150).
little is a word inherited from Germanic.
See etymology
Nearby entries
- litter case, n.1944–
- littered, adj.1754–
- litterer, n.1928–
- litterfall, n.1967–
- littering, n.¹1382–
- littering, n.²1706
- littering, adj.1864–
- litter tray, n.1964–
- littery, adj.1805–
- litting, n.?c1225–1568
- little, adj., pron., n., adv.Old English–
- little, v.Old English–
- little-able, adj.1829
- Little American, n.1899–
- Little Americanism, n.1898–
- Little Audrey joke, n.1934–
- little auk, n.1766–
- Little Bear, n.1555–
- little bittern, n.1763–
- little black dress, n.1928–
- little black frock, n.1898–
Browse more nearby entries
Etymology
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Meaning & use
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Pronunciation
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Forms
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