Forms: 1 lýtel, lítel, Northumb. lyttil, (lýtl-, lítl-), 2–3 lutel, lut(t)l-, lit(t)l-, 3 lutil, luttel, leitel, 3–5 luytel, litelle, -ul, 3–6 lit(t)el, litell, 4 luitel, littil, lytille, -ulle, 4–5 lytul, 4–6 lytel, -il, -yll, litil(l, littill, -ell, 4–7 litle, 5 litull(e, -ille, -yll, littull, lytyle, -elle, 5–6 lyt(t)ell, lyttyll, lytill, -yl(le, 6 lyt(t)le, lyttil, lytel, lityll, (laytell, lickell, 7 lickle), 6– little. See also LEETLE. [OE. lýtel, lytel, corresponds to OS. luttil (MDu. luttel, lettel, Du. luttel), OHG. luzzil, also liuzil, ? lūzil (MHG., mod.G. dial. lützel):—WGer. *lŭttilo-, f. *lŭt (prob. f. the root of OE. lútan to bow down: see LOUT v.) represented in OE. lýt, lyt (and the equivalent forms: see LITE sb.), and in OS. luttik, OFris. littich, OHG. luzzîg little. A synonymous and phonetically similar (but radically unconnected) adj. OTeut. *lîtilo- is found as Goth. leitils, ON. lítell (Sw. liten, lilla, Da. liden, lille), and possibly in OE. lítel, MDu. lîtel, mod.Flem. lijter; the root *līt-:—pre-Teut. *leid- may be cogn. with *loid- in Gr. λοίδορος abuse, L. lūdus (:—*loidos) play; some scholars have compared Lith. laidau I let flow, leidžu I set free.
The long vowel in OE. lýtel is vouched for by metrical evidence (Sievers in Beiträge, X. 504) and certain features of the declension (Sarrazin ibid., IX. 365), as well as by the early ME. luitel. On the other hand, the Northumb. lyttel, and the widespread early ME. luttel, littel, suggest that the y may have been short in some dialects, and perh. generally in the syncopated flexional forms. The modern dialects that are marked by a large Scandinavian element in the vocabulary mostly have the vowel long, the pronunciation being (lāt’l) or the like; this seems to point to influence from the ON. lítell.]
A. adj. The opposite of great or much. Compar. LESS, LESSER; superl. LEAST.
These forms, however, are not quite coextensive in application with the positive, so that in certain uses the adj. has no recognized mode of comparison. The difficulty is commonly evaded by resort to a synonym (as smaller, smallest); some writers have ventured to employ the unrecognized forms littler, littlest, which are otherwise confined to dialect or imitations of childish or illiterate speech.
I. Opposed to great. Often synonymous with small.
Its customary antithetic association (in mod. Eng.) is with great or big, not with large; on the other hand, small is the customary antithesis of great or large, but not of big. One difference between the two synonyms is that little is capable of emotional implications, which small is not.
1. Of material objects, portions of space, etc.: Small in size, not large or big. Of persons: Short in stature.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Gram., i. (Z.), 2. Ic Ælfric wolde þas lytlan boc awendan to engliscum ʓereorde of ðam stæfcræfte.
a. 1225. Leg. Kath., 2517. Of þe lutle banes, þe floweð ut wið þe eoile, floweð oðer eoile ut.
c. 1290. S. Eng. Leg., I. 407/162. He may here in þe grounde ane luttle worm i-seo.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 14939. A littel hill Man calles mont oliuete.
1432–50. trans. Higden (Rolls), I. 373. He schewede to hym a lytulle rownd dyche.
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, I. xvi. The xj kynges … withdrewe hem to a lytil woode and so ouer a lytyl ryuer.
1567. Satir. Poems Reform., iii. 178. War … I ane cat and sho ane lyttill mous.
1596. Shaks., Merch. V., I. ii. 1. By my troth Nerrissa, my little body is wearie of this great world.
1677. Hale, Prim. Orig. Man., I. i. 4. Even in the very little Insects, there appears the excellent work of the Divine Wisdom.
1735. Bolingbroke, Study Hist. (1777), 335. There is a prejudice in China in favour of little feet.
1818. Scott, Rob Roy, xiii. You may bring him to the little back-gate.
1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, xxi. She was called tall and gawky by some … of her own sex, who prefer littler women.
b. Used to designate animal and vegetable species or varieties that are distinguished by their smallness from others belonging to the same genus or bearing the same name.
c. 1450. ME. Med. Bk. (Heinrich), 227. Þe lytel daysye.
1562. Turner, Herbal, II. 133. Moustayle or litle stone crop.
1776–96. Withering, Brit. Plants (ed. 3), II. 327. Little Mouse-tail.
1831. A. Wilson & Bonaparte, Amer. Ornith., I. 110. The little owl is seven inches and a half long.
1861. Miss Pratt, Flower. Pl., V. 295. Little Bulbous Rush.
1876. Smiles, Sc. Natur., xii. (ed. 4), 247. The Little Auk has a wonderful power of resisting the fury of the waves.
c. Used to characterize the smaller or less important of two countries or places of the same name. † Little Britain, Brittany, Similarly in many Eng. village names, as Little Gidding, Little Malvern; in river-names; and in names of streets: cf. GREAT a. 6 e. Also in names of constellations, as the Little Bear: cf. GREAT a. 6 d.
c. 1400. Maundev. (1839), xxv. 259. Descendynge toward the litille Armenye.
c. 1450. King Ponthus & Fair Sidone, xxvi. heading (1897), 93. How Ponthus retorned to Litle Bretayn.
c. 1530. [see BRITAIN 2].
1640. Yorke, Union Hon., 73. Philebert de Chandew, a Baron in his own countrey of little Brittaine in France.
1677. F. Sandford, Genealog. Hist. Kings Eng., 62. Conan of Little Britain.
d. With superl. meaning, in little finger, toe.
a. 1000. Boeth. Metr., xx. 179. Þæt hire [sc. of the soul] þy læsse on ðæm lytlan ne bið anum fingre þe hire on eallum bið þæm lichoman.
c. 1290. S. Eng. Leg., I. 309/329. Ȝif he ne may with is luytel finguer ane man to sunne teche.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., V. xxix. (1495), 140. The fyfthe fyngre is the lytyll fyngre and highte Auricularis.
c. 1400. Lanfranc’s Cirurg., 36. Ech poynt schal be from oþir bi þe brede of a litil fyngir.
14[?]. Nom., in Wr.-Wülcker, 679/10. Hic articulus, a lytyle too.
1535. Coverdale, 1 Kings xii. 10. My litle fynger shall be thicker then my fathers loynes.
1563–83. Foxe, A. & M., II. 804/1. Openly pronouncing that Luther had more learning in his litle finger, then all ye doctours in England in their whole bodies.
1643. J. Steer, trans. Exp. Chyrurg., xv. 61. His fore-finger … and little finger were … burnt.
1726. Monro, Anat. Bones (1741), 305. Os metatarsi of the little Toe is the shortest.
1840. Dickens, Barn. Rudge, lxxviii. He used the little finger … of his right hand as a tobacco-stopper.
1872. Mivart, Elem. Anat., 152. The fifth [finger is] the ‘little digit.’
e. Often emphasized by being coupled with some other adj. implying smallness. † Also reduplicated little little.
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 507. Scho had layd in his lape a litill tyne egg.
1542. Udall, Erasm. Apoph., 189. When he … sawe there a litle litle herthe, & in the same a litle preatie small fyer, he saied [etc.].
1593. Shaks., Rich. II., III. iii. 153. And my large Kingdome, for a little Graue, A little little Graue, an obscure Graue. Ibid. (1597), 2 Hen. IV., V. i. 29. Any pretty little tine Kickshawes. Ibid. (1598), Merry W., I. iv. 22. He hath but a little wee-face.
2. Used spec. of young children or animals. Little one (often pl.): child, offspring, young one.
c. 893. K. Ælfred, Oros., III. xvii. § 1. His ʓingran dohtor … seo wæs lytel cild.
c. 1200. Ormin, 3217. Þiss lif to ledenn he bigann Whann he wass ȝet full litell. Ibid., 8053. Whil þatt I wass litell child Icc held o childess þæwess.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Man of Law’s Prol., 73. Thy litel children hanging by the hals For thy Iason, that was in loue so fals.
c. 1420. Sir Amadace (Camden), lxvii. He toke vppe the ladi, and the litulle knaue.
1468. J. Paston, jun., in P. Lett., II. 319. And, modyr, I beseche yow that ye wolbe good mastras to my lytyll man, and to se that he go to scole.
1526. Tindale, Matt. xviii. 6. Whosoever offende one of these lytell wons, which beleve in me.
1598. Shaks., Merry W., IV. iv. 47. Nan Page (my daughter) and my little sonne.
1611. Cotgr., Petit,… the little one, or young one, of a beast.
1641. Marmion, Antiquary, I. i. Well said, little-one, I think thou art wiser than both of them.
1779. T. Twining, in Recreat. & Stud. (1882), 71. My sister and her little fellow-traveller.
1819. Shelley, Cenci, V. iii. 103. My wife! my little ones! Destitute, helpless.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., vii. II. 172. Through life he continues to regard the little Bentincks with paternal kindness.
1894. H. Drummond, Ascent Man, 377. Among the Carnivora the mothers have frequently to hide their little ones in case the father eats them.
1898. Flor. Montgomery, Tony, 19. The little boy’s small back.
¶ b. Little language: Swift’s name for the infantine dialect which he used in conversation and correspondence with ‘Stella.’ (Often quoted in references to Swift’s life.)
1711. Swift, Jrnl. to Stella, 4 May (1901), 209. Do you know that every syllable I write I hold my lips just for all the world as if I were talking in our own little language to MD?
3. Used to convey an implication of endearment or depreciation, or of tender feeling on the part of the speaker. Also coupled with an epithet expressing such feelings, e.g., pretty, sweet little.
1567. Satir. Poems Reform., iii. 154. The wois that Ouid in Ibin Into his pretty lytill buik did wryte.
1590. Shaks., Mids. N., III. i. 204. And when she weepes, weepe euerie little flower. Ibid. (1596), Merch. V., V. i. 21. In such a night Did pretty Iessica (like a little shrow) Slander her Loue. Ibid. (1597), 2 Hen. IV., II. iv. 225. I prethee Iack be quiet, the Rascall is gone: ah, you whorson little valiant Villaine, you.
1694. Wood, Life, 23 June. I returned from London in the company of a little poore thing, Sir Lacy Osbaldeston.
1819. Shelley, Cyclops, 246. My dear sweet master, My darling little Cyclops.
1847. Tennyson, Princess, Prol. 154. A rosebud set with little wilful thorns.
1849. Dickens, Dav. Copp., xxvi. She had the most delightful little voice, the gayest little laugh, the pleasantest and most fascinating little ways, that ever led a lost youth into hopeless slavery.
1883. R. W. Dixon, Mano, I. viii. 23. Sweet was her carriage, sweet the little folds Of her fair dress close drawn with meekest care.
Mod. Bless your little heart!
4. Of collective unities: Having few members, inhabitants, etc.; small in number.
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., Luke xii. 32. Ne ondræd þu þe la lytle heord.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Manciple’s Prol., 1. A litel toun Which þat ycleped is Bobbe up and down.
1513. Bradshaw, St. Werburge, I. 1845. A lytell vyllage called Exmynge.
1565. Stapleton, trans. Bæda’s Hist. Ch. Eng., 152. A litle parte of these reliques were at that time in this monasterie.
1588. Shaks., L. L. L., I. i. 13. Our Court shall be a little Achademe. Ibid. (1591), 1 Hen. VI., IV. ii. 46. A little Heard of Englands timorous Deere.
1611. Bible, Exod. xii. 4. If the houshold be too little [Coverdale few] for the lambe.
1696. View Crt. St. Germain, 2. The number of the Consciencious Jacobites … must be very little.
1754. Cowper, Ep. Rob. Lloyd, 18. A fierce banditti … Make cruel inroads in my brain, And daily threaten to drive thence My little garrison of sense.
1820. Keats, Ode on Grecian Urn, iv. What little town by river or sea shore … Is emptied of this folk, this pious morn?
1871. Morley, Voltaire (1886), 7. In the realm of mere letters, Voltaire is one of the little band of great monarchs.
1879. Whitney, Sanskrit Gram., 157. In a little class of instances (eight) the root has a preposition prefixed.
5. Of immaterial things, considered in respect of their quantity, length in series, etc.
c. 1275. Passion our Lord, 1, in O. E. Misc., 37. Ihereþ nv one lutele tale þat ich eu wille telle.
c. 1330. Spec. Gy Warw., 166. He … halt þerof ful litel prys.
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, XVIII. xviii. The knyghte … put … a lytel dele of water in his mouthe.
1555. Bradforth, in Strype, Eccl. Mem., III. App. xlv. 127. Thoughe yt be never so daungerous to me to sett this lyttell treatys abroad.
1590. Shaks., Mids. N., I. ii. 54. Ile speake in a monstrous little voyce. Ibid. (1599), Much Ado, V. i. 162. I said thou hadst a fine wit: true saies she, a fine little one.
1598. T. Bastard, Chrestoleros, 14. The Printer when I askt a little summe, Huckt with me for my booke.
1809. Malkin, Gil Blas, V. i. ¶ 66. He was no longer at a loss for his little pocket expenses.
1843. Dickens, Christmas Carol, iii. 99. Tiny Tim … had a plaintive little voice and sang it very well indeed.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., iii. I. 335. Proprietors, who … derived their subsistence from little freehold estates.
1872. Earle, Philol. Eng. Tongue, § 499. The indefinite article, which is descended from the littlest of the numerals.
1876. E. C. Stedman, Victorian Poets, 152. A little poem, ‘The Flower,’ is the expression of a genuine grievance.
6. Of dimension, distance, or period of time: Short. † So little while (advb. phr.): for so short a time.
Beowulf, 2097 (Gr.). He onweʓ losade, lytle hwile lifwynna breac.
c. 1205. Lay., 343. Nes Brutus i þon londe bute lutel ane wile. Ibid., 26939. Þer heo leien stille ane lutle stunde.
a. 1300–1400. Cursor M., 14754 (Gött.). Ȝe felle þis kirc dune to þe grund, I sal it raise in littel stound.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, Prol. 28. In lytil space here, I wryt þe lyf of sanctis sere.
c. 1420. Lydg., Assembly of Gods, 1283. A lytyll tyne hys ey castyng hym besyde.
c. 1440. Generydes, 148. Alter soper, withynne a litill space She brought hym to his bedde with torche light.
c. 1540[?]. in Strype, Eccl. Mem. (1721), I. II. App. lxxii. 174. They may think things pas lightly here, that are so little while liked.
1591. Harington, Orl. Fur., II. xii. When that she a little way had past.
1610. Shaks., Temp., IV. i. 157. Our little life Is rounded with a sleepe.
1667. Milton, P. L., X. 320. And now in little space The Confines met of Empyrean Heav’n And of this world.
1675. Marvell, Corr., ccxxxvi. Wks. 1872–5, II. 449. Although … the House of Commons hath both days been long and very busy, the relation falls within a litle compasse.
1712. Addison, Spect., No. 475, ¶ 2. She hopes to be married in a little time.
1859. FitzGerald, trans. Omar, iii. (1899), 70. You know how little while we have to stay.
b. Qualifying a sb. denoting definite measure of duration or distance, to emphasize its brevity. † Also, in 16–17th c., used for: Bare, scarcely complete.
1523. Ld. Berners, Froiss., I. cvii. 128. In the mornyng they wer within two lytell leages of Auberoche.
1568. Grafton, Chron., II. 343. The Abbey of Mauros, which was .ix. little myle from Rosebourgh.
1602. Shaks., Ham., I. ii. 147. A little Month, or ere these shooes were old.
1670. Cotton, Espernon, II. vii. 312. This retirement of the Duke’s being but ten little Leagues from Paris.
1697. trans. Le Comte’s Mem. & Rem. China, iv. (1737), 108. It is off of Nankin thirty leagues from the sea, a little half league broad.
1794. Cowper, Moralizer Corrected, 17. Distant a little mile he spied A western bank’s still sunny side.
1816. J. Wilson, City of Plague, II. i. 98. Your brother died Some little hours before.
1848. Brougham, Of Revolutions, Wks. 1857, VIII. 332. But a little month ago, and … the Germans would have held the like language of national self-complacency.
1871. R. Ellis, trans. Catullus, v. 5. We, when sets in a little hour the brief light, Sleep one infinite age, a night for ever.
7. Of qualities, emotions, conditions, actions or occurrences: Small in extent or degree.
c. 1205. Lay., 26452. For æuere heo ȝelp makieð heore monscipe is luttel.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. Prol. 195. Better is a litel losse þan a longe sorwe.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Wks. (1880), 333. No man shuld liȝe a lytel lesyng to saue þe worlde.
c. 1440. Boctus & Sidrak (Laud MS. 559 lf. 3). I shall teche yoow a lytill ieste: That befelle oonys in ye Este.
1513. Bradshaw, St. Werburge, I. 704. Þat litel sinful dede.
1602. Shaks., Ham., III. ii. 182 (1604 Qo.). Where loue is great, the litlest doubts are feare, Where little feares grow great, great loue growes there.
c. 1620. in Hatton Corr. (1878), 3. It is a sinn, and that not a lickle one.
1768. Goldsm., Good-n. Man, I. i. Upon that I proceed,… though with very little hopes to reclaim him.
1885. J. K. Fowler, in Daily News, 14 July, 2/1. Fowl-growing and egg-selling are distinctly little businesses.
† b. Const. of: Having the quality or performing the action mentioned to a slight extent only.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Sel. Wks., I. 195. And siþ þes foulis ben litil of prys.
c. 1381. Chaucer, Parl. Foules, 513. I am a sede foul … and litil of cunnynge.
1432. Rolls of Parlt., IV. 405/2. Thei [wines] wex all noght or litell of value.
c. 1450. Bk. Curtasye, 34, in Babees Bk. Loke þou be hynde and lytulle of worde.
1484. Caxton, Fables of Æsop, IV. xiv. It behoveth not to the yong and lytyl of age to mocke … theyr older.
1508. Dunbar, Tua Mariit Wemen, 185. He lukis as he wald luffit be, thocht he be litill of valour.
c. With agent-noun or sb. indicating occupation, etc.: That is such on a small scale.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 303/1. Lytylle lyare, mendaculus.
1767. A. Young, Farmer’s Lett. to People, 55. A much larger capital than any little farmer can possess.
1834. Youatt, Cattle, vi. 192. The dairyman and the little farmer clung to the old breed.
d. Now often idiomatically in somewhat playful use, indicating some feeling of amusement on the part of the speaker.
1885. Anstey, Tinted Venus, 72. How long do you mean to carry on this little game?
1888. Rider Haggard, Col. Quaritch, ix. How well she managed that little business of the luncheon.
Mod. I understand his little ways.
8. a. Of things: Not of great importance or interest; trifling, trivial.
a. 1100. O. E. Chron., an. 656 (Laud MS.). Hit is litel þeos ʓife.
a. 1175. Cott. Hom., 221. Hwi wolde god swa litles þinges him forwerne.
c. 1200. Vices & Virtues (1888), 17. Ouer litel þing ðu ware trewe; ouer michel þing ic ðe scal setten.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 3302. Leue freind … þine asking Es noght bot a litell thing.
1593. Shaks., Rich. II., I. iii. 213. How long a time lyes in one little word. Ibid. (1606), Ant. & Cl., II. ii. 134. All little Ielousies which now seeme great … Would then be nothing.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., v. I. 524. Every little discontent appears to him to portend a revolution.
1865. Dickens, Mut. Fr., III. v. Constant attention in the littlest things.
b. Of persons: Not distinguished, inferior in rank or condition. Now rare.
c. 1220. Bestiary, 689. He ðe is ai in heuene mikel, wurð her man, and tus was litel.
c. 1450. trans. De Imitatione, III. viii. 75. If þou coudist at all tymes abide meke & litel in þiself.
c. 1477. Caxton, Jason, 11. I am … litil seruaunt unto the quene of the countre.
1611. Bible, 1 Sam. xv. 17. When thou wast litle in thine owne sight.
1744. Ozell, trans. Brantome’s Sp. Rhodomontades, 69. Honour’d and esteem’d … both by Gentle and Simple, by Little and Great Folks.
1751. Johnson, Rambler, No. 152, ¶ 5. To learn how to become little without being mean.
1772. Mackenzie, Man World, I. viii. (1823), 428. There is no Tax so heavy on a little man, as an acquaintance with a great one.
1827. Lytton, Pelham, ii. There was in it … no cringing to great, and no patronising condescension to little people.
9. Paltry, mean, contemptible; little-minded.
1483. Cath. Angl., 218/2. Litille,… decliuus ad ingenium pertinet. Ibid. Litille,… paulus mediocritatis est, paululus, pupus, pusulanimis.
c. 1665. Mrs. Hutchinson, Mem. Col. Hutchinson (1885), II. 43. One of their own members who encouraged all those little men in their wicked persecution of him. Ibid., II. 74. Almost all the parliament-garrisons were infested and disturbed with like factious little people.
1693. Dryden, Juvenal, xiv. Notes (1697), 367. He dy’d a very little Death … being Martyr’d by the fall of a Tile from a House.
1701. Rowe, Amb. Step-Moth., II. ii. 804. I hear thee and disdain thy little Malice.
1712. Steele, Spect., No. 268, ¶ 2. [It] renders the Nose-puller odious, and makes the Person pulled by the Nose look little and contemptible.
1766. Fordyce, Serm. Yng. Wom. (1767), II. xiii. 246. Haughtiness is always little.
1776. Gibbon, Decl. & F., xi. I. 303. The little passions which so frequently perplex a female reign.
1829. Lytton, Devereux, II. viii. The littlest feeling of all is a delight in contemplating the littleness of other people.
1863. Cowden Clarke, Shaks. Char., xix. 484. They do this with the little cunning of little minds.
II. Opposed to much.
10. Not much; only a slight amount or degree of; barely any. (Often preceded by but. Also in phr. little or no …).
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., Matt. xiv. 31. He … þus cwæð la lytles ʓeleafan hwi twynedest þu?
a. 1300. Cursor M., 530. Þow may þam find with litul suink.
c. 1320. Sir Tristr., 2125. Tristrem, for soþe to say, Y wold þe litel gode.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. I. 139. To litel latyn þow lernedest, lede, in þi ȝouthe.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Shipman’s Prol., 28. Ther is but litil Latin in my mawe.
c. 1449. Pecock, Repr., I. iii. 16. Holi Writt ȝeueth litil or noon liȝt therto at al.
1581. Mulcaster, Positions, vi. (1887), 45. To much meat cloyes, to litle faintes.
1591. Shaks., Two Gent., IV. i. 11. Then know that I haue little wealth to loose.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., IV. 703. Strong Desires th’ impatient Youth invade; By little Caution and much Love betray’d.
1821. Shelley, in Lady Shelley, Mem. (1859), 54. There is little probability of an injunction being granted.
1828. Macaulay, Hallam, Ess. (1892), 71. He had little money, little patronage, no military establishment.
1871. Freeman, Norm. Conq. (1876), IV. xviii. 213. William … was able to attack the town from the point where it gained little advantage from its site.
b. Forming with its sb. a kind of privative combination, with the sense ‘absence or scarcity of’ (what the sb. denotes). Now rare.
c. 1000. Ags. Ps. lxxxviii. 40. Gemune, mære God, hwæt si min lytle sped [L. quæ mea substantia].
c. 1532. Du Wes, Introd. Fr., in Palsgr., 905. The lytell corage, la pusillanimité.
1606. Shaks., Tr. & Cr., III. iii. 220. They thinke my little stomacke to the warre … restraines you thus.
1654–66. Earl Orrery, Parthen. (1676), 535. Surena was constrain’d by his little Victuals.
1752. Burke, Corr. (1844), I. 29. Our little curiosity, perhaps, cleared us of that imputation [of being spies].
1802. Wordsw., Sailor’s Mother, 35. God help me for my little wit!
11. A little: a small quantity of; some, though not much. Identical in sense with a little of (see B. 4) from which it prob. originated by ellipsis.
14[?]. Voc., in Wr.-Wülcker, 604/20. Posse, a lytyl hauynge, or a lytyl myght.
c. 1430. Two Cookery-bks., 16. Caste þer-to a littel Safroun & Salt.
c. 1450. ME. Med. Bk. (Heinrich), 134. Take harde spaynessh sepe and a litul stale ale.
1545. Raynold, Byrth Mankynde, 128. The iuyce of quynces with a lyttell cloues and sugre.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. VI., 166 b. Whose mother susteyned not a litle slaunder and obloquye of the common people.
1595. Shaks., John, III. iv. 176. As a little snow, tumbled about, Anon becomes a Mountaine.
1598. Bacon, Ess., Atheisme (Arb.), 125. A little naturall philosophie … doth dispose the opinion to Atheisme.
1709. Pope, Ess. Crit., 215. A little learning is a dang’rous thing.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., vi. II. 6. By a little patience, prudence, and justice, such a toleration might have been obtained.
1901. H. Black, Culture & Restraint, iii. 88. It takes a great deal of life to make a little art.
† b. Rarely used without a in this sense. Obs.
1597. Shaks., 2 Hen. IV., III. i. 43. A Body, yet distemper’d, Which to his former strength may be restor’d, With good aduice, and little Medicine. Ibid. (1601), Twel. N., V. i. 174. O do not sweare, Hold little faith, though thou hast too much feare.
† 12. With pl. and collect. sing.: = FEW. Obs.
13[?]. Guy Warw. (A.), 2468. Þemperour … Wille huntte to morwe … Wiþ litel folk & nouȝt wiþ miche.
1430–40. Lydg., Bochas, V. iv. (1494), R j. Cleomenes … with lityll peple made his fone to flee.
1621. Lady M. Wroth, Urania, 541. Desiring to know what accident brought him thither, especially armed, where little Armes was required.
1660. Fuller, Mixt Contempl., 28. Our late Civil warre which lasted so long in our land; yet left so little signs behind it.
III. 13. Special collocations: † Little Easter Sunday, ? Low Sunday. Little Englander, one who advocates a ‘little England,’ that is, desires to restrict the dimensions and responsibilities of the Empire. So Little Englandism, the policy or views of Little Englanders. Little fever ? U.S., typhoid (Cent. Dict.). Little giant, ‘a jointed iron nozzle used in hydraulic mining’ (Raymond, Mining Gloss.); cf. GIANT sb. 4. Little habit = lesser habit (s.v. HABIT sb. 2 b). Little hours, the ‘hours’ of prime, terce, sext and none (= F. les petites heures). Little house, a privy (now dial.). † Little Jack, an irreverent name for the little box (sometimes in the form of a human figure) in which the reserved sacrament was enclosed within the Easter sepulchre during part of Holy Week. † Little king [trans. L. regulus, cf. F. roitelet], wren. Little people, fairies; cf. LITTLE MAN 4. † Little pox, small-pox, † Little son [= F. petit-fils], a grandson. See also Little BETHEL, CASSINO, CUSTOM (sb. 4), ENTRANCE (1 c), MASS, SEAL, SHILLING, etc.; also the main words below.
1602. Carew, Cornwall, 137 b. Vpon *little Easter Sunday the Freeholders … did there assemble.
1895. Westm. Gaz., 1 Aug., 2/2. Do not let us fall into the error so often made by *Little Englanders and suppose that [etc.].
1899. Times, 20 Jan., 9/2. Mr. Morley’s proud pronouncement of the faith of *‘Little Englandism.’
1874. Raymond, Statist. Mines & Mining, 352. In Deer Lodge County … *‘little giants’ … have been introduced.
1720. T. Gordon, Cordial Low Spirits, 64. It was observed that all the while it [Treaty at Utrecht] was making, Her Ministry went frequently to the *Little House.
1769. Wesley, Wks. (1872), XII. 249. I particularly desire wherever you have preaching … that there may be a little-house.
1812. W. Taylor, in Monthly Mag., XXXIII. 228. A privy is called a little house.
1566. in Peacock, Eng. Ch. Furniture (1866), 46. Item a sepulker wth *litle Jack … litle Jack was broken in peces this yeare by the said churchwardens.
1450–80. trans. Secreta Secret., 35. Rebelle as a *litille kyng, obeyshaunt as a pekok.
1726–31. Waldron, Descr. Isle of Man (1865), 27. As they confidently assert that the first inhabitants of their Island were fairies, so do they maintain that these *little people have still their residence among them.
1619. Notes B. Jonson’s Convers. w. Drummond (Shaks. Soc., 1842), 23. Sir P. Sidneye’s Mother, Leicester’s sister, after she had the *litle pox, never shew herself in Court therafter bot masked.
1570. Mary Q. of Scots, Lett. to C’tess Lennox, 10 July, in H. Campbell, Love-Lett. Mary (1824), 228. The transporting ȝoure *littil son and my onelie child in this country…. I have born him,… and of ȝow he is descendit.
IV. 14. Comb. (chiefly parasynthetic), as little-footed, -haired, -headed, -minded (whence little-mindedness), -statured; little-endian a. and sb., the designation of the orthodox party in the controversy in the state of Lilliput on the question at which end an egg should be opened (Swift, Gulliver, iv); hence used allusively; † little-sight a., short-sighted; little-thrift, an unthrifty person.
1832. *Little endian [see BIG a. B. 2].
1888. Pall Mall Gaz., 13 Sept., 11/1. A … controversy … between the Big-endians and the Little-endians of female attire.
1847. Tennyson, Princess, II. 118. She fulmined out her scorn of laws Salique And *little-footed China.
14[?]. Voc., in Wr.-Wülcker, 574/18. Comatulus, *lytyl heryd.
1670. G. H., Hist. Cardinals, II. i. 122. Two sorry *little-headed Nephews.
1707. Hearne, Collect., 25 Oct. (O. H. S.), II. 66. This is *little minded.
1813. Examiner, 24 May, 332/2. The little-minded vanity of a nation.
1824. in Spir. Pub. Jrnls. (1825), 342. The *little-mindedness which shrinks from professional satire.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., V. vi. (1495), 112. An eye is *lytyll syght whiche seeth not well aferre.
1702. Lond. Gaz., No. 3774/4. Went away from his Mother…, James Bristow, aged about 17 years, *little Statured.
1849. G. P. R. James, Woodman, iv. They cannot be such idle *little-thrifts as you make them out.
B. absol. and sb.
I. The adj. used absol.
1. Chiefly with the: Those that are little; little persons.
c. 1000. Ags. Ps. (Th.), cxiv. 6. Drihten ʓehealdeð dome þa lytlan.
c. 1200. Ormin, 8002. Forrþi let he cwellenn þa Þe miccle & ec þe little.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 6551. Þai fled a-wai,… Littel and mikel, less and mare.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 12058. Þe lordis to þo litill þe lyuys han grauntid.
1484. Caxton, Fables of Æsop, I. xiii. The lytyle ryght ofte may lette and trouble the grete.
1535. Coverdale, Judith xiii. 13. They came all to mete her, litle & greate.
1692. R. L’Estrange, Fables, xvi. (1708), 21. The Great and the Little have Need one of Another.
2. The little: that which is little; the little qualities, characters, aspects, etc.
1791. Cowper, Yardley Oak, 87. Comparing still The great and little of thy lot.
1806. Prisc. Wakefield, Domestic Recreation, vi. 80. The invention of man has not yet contrived glasses that comprehend either the vast or the little of nature.
1875. Browning, Aristoph. Apol., 5123. Little and Bad exist, are natural.
3. Not much; only a small amount or quantity: often preceded by but; admitting of being qualified by advs. of degree, as very, rather. Little or nothing: hardly anything. † Little is me of: I care little for. † To say little: to make no reply, to be silent. † Within little: within a short distance of. To make or † let little of, set little by, etc.: see the verbs.
c. 1200. Ormin, 6480. Her iss litell oþerr nohht I þiss land off þatt sallfe.
c. 1205. Lay., 3465. Þe mon þe litul ah.
a. 1225. Juliana, 26. Lutel is me of ower lufe.
c. 1275. Moral Ode, 12, in O. E. Misc., 58. Al to muchel ich habbe i-spend to lutel i-leyd an horde.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 26997. Litel he sette be his life.
13[?]. Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. (E.E.T.S.), 525/51. Ȝif þou haue luytel, luitel ȝiue and do.
a. 1340. Hampole, Pr. Consc., 1459. Now haf we or litel, now pas we mesur.
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, IX. iv. 344. Thenne she smote doun her heed and sayd lytel.
a. 1533. Ld. Berners, Huon, lxvi. 226. He dyd ete & drynke but lytell.
1546. J. Heywood, Prov. (1867), 67. Though ye spent but lickell.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. VII., 9. Landed for a purpose at the pyle of Fowdrey within lytle of Lancastre. Ibid., Hen. VIII., 139. These wordes sore astonied sir Richard Weston, but he said litle.
c. 1580. Jefferie, Bugbears, IV. v. in Archiv Stud. neu. Spr. (1897). Lyttle sayd, sone amended.
1611. Bible, Luke vii. 47. To whom litle is forgiuen, the same loueth litle.
1635. R. N., Camden’s Hist. Eliz., II. an. 13. 124. It missed little but hee had been proscribed when he was dead.
1719. De Foe, Crusoe, II. viii. (1840), 194. (Like me) he came from little at first.
1766. Goldsm., Vic. W., viii. Ballad viii. Man wants but little here below, Nor wants that little long.
1794. Burns, Song (first line). Contented wi’ little, and cantie wi’ mair.
1808. Scott, Marm., I. xxiv. Little he eats and long will wake.
1862. Borrow, Wild Wales, II. xxvi. 295. He was a tall lanikin figure…, and upon the whole appeared to be good for very little.
1869. Ruskin, Q. of Air, vii. The myth of a simple and ignorant race must necessarily mean little, because a simple and ignorant race have little to mean.
1881. Med. Temp. Jrnl., XLIX. 31. We know little or nothing about the truth.
b. Const. of.
Now rare exc. when the context does not permit the use of little adj., e.g., when the sb. is defined by a demonstrative adj. The use with an adj. used absol. (as in quots. 1824, 1833) is a Gallicism, and not in common use.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Knt.’s T., 921. That lord hath litel of discrecion, That in swich cas kan no diuision.
c. 1400. Maundev. (1839), xxv. 259. In that Kyngdom of Medee there ben many grete Hilles, and litille of pleyn Erthe.
1486. Bk. St. Albans, D iij. Off spare hawkes ther is chooce and lytill of charge of thaym.
1824. Landor, Imag. Conv., Wks. 1853, I. 221/1. There was little of sound and salutary which they did not derive from Democritus or from Pythagoras.
1833. Moore, Mem., VI. 337. [Stones like] those at Stonehenge … have but little of new or marvellous for him who has seen the rocks beyond the Atlantic.
Mod. Of political sagacity he had very little. He showed little of the amiability which was ascribed to him.
† c. In the genitive depending on an indefinite pron., as what, somewhat. Littles what, also what littles: little or nothing, a trifling quantity; in first quot., trifles. Obs.
a. 1100. O. E. Chron., an. 1070 (Laud. MS.). Bec & mæsse hakeles & cantelcapas & reafes & swilce litles hwat.
c. 1200. Ormin, 4681. for þatt tu muȝhe winnenn her Wiþþ sinne summwhatt littless. Ibid., 6952. Forrþi þatt teȝȝ … Ȝet unnderstodenn littlesswhatt Off all þe rihhte trowwþe.
c. 1305. St. Edmund, 396, in E. E. P. (1862), 81. Hit was what lutles þat he et.
d. Qualified by a demonstrative or possessive: (The) little amount or quantity; (so) small a quantity, a (very) small amount, etc.
c. 893. K. Ælfred, Oros., I. i. § 17. Þæt lytle þæt he erede he erede mid horsan.
a. 1240. Sawles Warde, in Cott. Hom., 265. Þis lutle ich habbe iseid of þat ich iseh in heouene.
1604. E. G[rimstone], D’Acosta’s Hist. Indies, IV. xlii. 325. This little may suffice touching the Bezaars stone.
1633. P. Fletcher, Poet. Misc., 71. My little fills my little-wishing minde.
1667. Milton, P. L., II. 1000. If all I can will serve, That little which is left so to defend.
1738. Johnson, London, 40. Ev’ry moment leaves my little less.
1789. Burns, Upon seeing a wounded hare. Go, live, poor wanderer of the wood and field, The bitter little that of life remains.
1842. Tennyson, Dora, 50. Dora stored what little she could save.
1847. Grote, Greece (1862), III. xxix. 73. The little of his poems which remains.
1887. Times, 24 June, 9/1. Lord Sidmouth spoke of the little that had been done for our coast defences during the last 20 years.
II. sb. (With a or in plural.)
4. A small quantity, piece, portion; a small thing; a trifle.
c. 1220. Bestiary, 110. Naked falleð in ðe funt-fat, and cumeð ut al newe, buten a litel.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Sel. Wks., III. 347. Cristis apostlis … were not bisie about dymes, but helden hem paied on a litil, þat the puple ȝaf hem redily.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 1449. Lo, how fortune … of a litill hath likyng a low for to kyndull.
1614. Day, Festivals, ix. (1615), 267. Contemne not these littles, be they in truth never so little.
1631. Fosbroke, Solomons Charitie (1633), 7. Many littles, given unto many,… is better then much conferred upon one.
1692. R. L’Estrange, Fables, cccclxviii. 443. A Man may be Happy with a Little, and Miserable in Abundance.
1846. D. Jerrold, St. Giles, xxiii. (1851), 236. When a man’s being shaved, what a little will make him laugh.
1865. Dickens, Mut. Fr., II. xiv. A debt to pay off by littles.
Prov. 1622. Mabbe, trans. Aleman’s Guzman d’Alf., I. 50. Many a little, makes a mickle.
b. Const. of. (In early use with genitive.)
For the restriction in mod. use see 3 b.
c. 1000. Sax. Leechd., II. 336. Nim … hwerhwette niþewearde an lytel.
c. 1200. Ormin, 4086. Þeȝȝ ummbeshærenn þeȝȝre shapp … A litell off þe fell aweȝȝ.
c. 1205. Lay., 30107. Wið an luttel ȝeren Þa uade[re]s dede weoren.
c. 1450. ME. Med. Bk. (Heinrich), 68. Do a lytul þer of in þe sore eye.
1460–70. Bk. Quintessence, 21. Putte þerinne a litil of rubarbe or of summe oþer laxatiue.
1535. Coverdale, 1 Sam. xiv. 29. Se how lighte myne eyes are become, because I haue taisted a litle of this hony.
1616. T. Godwin, Moses & Aaron, III. (1641), 92. He drank a little of the wine.
1762–71. H. Walpole, Vertue’s Anecd. Paint. (1786), IV. 4. Architecture was perverted to meer house-building, where it retained not a litle of Vanbrugh.
1798. Wolcot (P. Pindar), Tales of Hoy, Wks. 1812, IV. 418. Not a bit of a Ballad … nor a little of a Tale to enliven the evening.
1826. Disraeli, Viv. Grey, V. xv. Let me recommend you a little of this pike!
1887. Jrnl. Educ., Dec., 509. The ‘little of everything’ theory [of education].
c. Used advb.: To a little or slight extent; in a small degree; somewhat, rather. Not a little, a good deal, extremely.
† A little of the biggest (quot. 1654): rather large.
1382. Wyclif, Heb. ii. 7. Thou hast maad him litil, a litil lesse fro aungelis.
c. 1400. Lanfranc’s Cirurg., 139. In þe ij day he openede a litil hise yȝen.
1413. Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton), I. ix. (1859), 7. I was comforted nought a litel.
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, XVII. xvii. Thenne was not he a lytel sory for launcelot.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. VI., 104 b. Here must I a litle digresse.
1606. G. W[oodcocke], Lives Emperors, in Hist. Ivstine, G g j. Although himselfe was of smal knowledge, and a little eloquent.
1611. Bible, Ps. ii. 12. When his wrath is kindled but a little.
1644. Vicars, God in Mount, 147. All the enemies Horse began to shogge a little.
1654. Dorothy Osborne, Lett. to Sir W. Temple (1888), 240. The ring, too, is very well, only a little of the biggest.
1722. De Foe, Col. Jack (1840), 159. I was a little afraid.
1847. Marryat, Childr. N. Forest, xviii. We are not a little hungry; I can tell you.
1887. Spectator, 5 Nov., 1494. The Magazines are a little dull this month.
5. A short time or distance. Chiefly in after a little, for a little, in a little.
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., John xvi. 16. Nu ymbe alytel [Hatton an lytel] ʓe me ne ʓeseoð, & eft embe lytel ʓe me ʓeseoþ.
1610. Shaks., Temp., IV. i. 266. For a little Follow, and doe me seruice.
1611. Bible, 2 Pet. ii. 18. They allure … those that were cleane [marg. Or, for a little, or a while] escaped from them who liue in errour.
a. 1814. Hector, III. ii. in New Brit. Theatre, IV. 345. And death we all must in a little share.
1827. Carlyle, Germ. Rom., I. 293. In a little, he and Froda left the inn.
1881. W. H. Mallock, Romance 19th Cent., II. 290. Be here then and we will go for a little into the garden.
b. Used advb. = For or at a short time or distance.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 93. Ȝe iherden a lutel er on þisse redunge þet ðe halie gast com ofer þa apostlas.
c. 1200. Ormin, 3467. Forr aȝȝ itt flæt upp i þe lifft Biforenn hemm a litel.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 14327. Forgeten has þou son þi lare Þat i þe said a littel are.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 8421. Lengye here at a litill, lystyn my wordes.
c. 1400. Maundev. (Roxb.), xxii. 101. It rynnez into þe see a lytill fra þe citee.
c. 1475. Rauf Coilȝear, 800. He lukit ane lytill him fra.
a. 1533. Ld. Berners, Huon, lxvi. 227. Let me slepe a lytell lenger.
1643. Trapp, Comm., Gen. xxii. 9. Mount Moriah … was a little from Salem, as mount Calvary also, was a little from Jerusalem.
1671. Milton, Samson, 1. A little onward lend thy guiding hand To these dark steps, a little further on.
1702. Rowe, Tamerl., I. i. Yet, yet, a little and destructive Slaughter Shall rage around.
1794. Cowper, Moralizer Corrected, 21. In hope to bask a little yet.
1825. Waterton, Wand. S. Amer., I. i. 107. The tree which thou passedst but a little ago.
1842. Tennyson, Locksley Hall, 1. Comrades, leave me here a little, while as yet ’tis early morn.
† 6. But a little = ‘but little’ (see 3). Obs.
With quot. 1377 cf. 1470–85 and 1548 in 3.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. II. 188. Sothenesse seiȝ hym wel and seide but a litel.
1579. Lyly, Euphues (Arb.), 87. An aunswere which pleased Ferardo but a lyttle.
1596. Shaks., Tam. Shr., I. ii. 61. Thou’dst thank me but a little.
1628. T. Spencer, Logick, 146. I haue a little to say touching this fourth seate; for, I haue done enough in the last, to satisfie this.
III. Phrases, chiefly formed with prepositions.
7. Forming expressions, chiefly with repetition of little, having the sense: By small degrees; a little at a time; gradually.
a. By little and little; also † by little and by little, † by a little and (a) little.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Sel. Wks., I. 358. Crist wole teche his disciplis bi litil and litil alle þes.
1413. Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton), V. i. (1859), 68. Alwey it decrecyd by a litel and a litel.
1422. trans. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv., 243. Hit sholde not be sodaynly chaungid that wyche is custoumet, but slowly by lytill and by litill.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. VI., 112 b. And so by a litle and litle, the Englishmen recovered again many tounes.
1577. Holinshed, Chron., I. Hist. Eng., 112/2. By what wyles and craft he might by little and little settle here, and obteine a kingdome in the Ile.
1611. Bible, Exod. xxiii. 30. By little and little I will driue them out from before thee, vntill thou be increased and inherit the land.
1625. Bacon, Ess., Atheism (Arb.), 337. Custome of Profane Scoffing in Holy Matters; which doth, by little and little, deface the Reuerence of Religion.
1682. Dryden, Relig. Laici, Pref. 2. Their Descendants lost by little and little the Primitive and Purer Rites.
a. 1774. Goldsm., Hist. Greece, I. 321. Both fleets arrived by little and little.
1823. J. Badcock, Dom. Amusem., 105. Add, by little and little, as much pearl-ash … as it will take up.
1886. Ruskin, Præterita, I. 243. All this we knew by little and little.
† b. A little and (a) little. Obs.
c. 1350. Will. Palerne, 950. I wol a litel and litel laskit in hast.
1482. Monk of Evesham (Arb.), 23. Hys spyrite beganne a lytyll and a lytill to come ageyne.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. VI., 170. This great tumult and sodain fury, was … a litle and litle appeased and finally quenched.
1655. Stapleton, trans. Bede’s Hist. Ch. Eng., 75. The companie of faithfull began a litle and litle to encrease againe.
1719. De Foe, Crusoe, I. ix. (1840), 157. My ink … I eked out with water a little and a little, till it was so pale.
1751. R. Paltock, Peter Wilkins (1884), I. 50. Stowing them all close together to keep in the moisture, which served us to suck at for two days after, a little and a little at a time.
† c. Little and little. Obs.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Sel. Wks., III. 302. Litel and litel þei may gete al þe rewme into here owene hondis.
1450–80. trans. Secreta Secret., 33. He may not leve it attones, but litille and litille.
1523. Ld. Berners, Froiss., I. cxv. 138. And soo lytell and lytell, the dethe of Jaques Dartuell was forgoten.
1546. J. Heywood, Prov. (1867), 67. Littell and littell the cat eateth the flickell.
1588. Parke, trans. Mendoza’s Hist. China, 294. They shoulde haue a special care vnto their healthes, in trauelling not too fast but little and little.
d. Little by little.
1483. Cath. Angl., 218/2. Litylle be litille, diuisim, paulatim.
1586. D. Rowland, Lazarillo, II. (1672), Q 2. Weak and dead for hunger, I went little by little up the street.
a. 1643. Ld. Falkland, etc., Infallibility (1646), 16. How many things little by little may have been received under old names, which would not have been so at once under new ones.
1865. Cornh. Mag., XI. 643. Little by little, the face of the country began to change.
1892. Westcott, Gospel of Life, 272. Little by little, the revelation of Christ’s Nature was made through the events of His intercourse with men.
† e. By (a) little. Obs.
1577. Hanmer, Anc. Eccl. Hist. (1663), 171. Our affairs began by a little, and as it were by stealth, to grow unto some quiet state.
1579. E. K., in Spenser’s Sheph. Cal., Ep. Ded. § 4. Young birdes … by little first proue theyr tender wyngs.
1647. W. Browne, Polex., II. 178. That melancholy waxing away by little.
1763. Ann. Reg., Char., etc. 106. Sift … more of the same sand by little upon it.
a. 1814. Love, Honor & Interest, I. i. in New Brit. Theatre, III. 263. Soon by little he began to droop.
† 8. Into (right) little: very nearly. Obs.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Troylus, IV. 856 (884). For which we han so sorwed he and I That in-to litel boþe it hadde vs slawe.
c. 1540. Lady Bryan, in Strype, Eccl. Mem., I. App. lxxi. 173. It wil be (in to right little) as great Profit to the Kings Grace this way, as the t’other way.
† 9. In a little: in a few words, briefly. Obs.
1613. Shaks., Hen. VIII., II. i. 11. But pray how past it? Ile tell you in a little.
10. In little: on a small scale; formerly esp. with reference to Painting = in miniature.
1597. Shaks., Lover’s Compl., 90. On his visage was in little drawne What largenesse thinkes in parradise was sawne. Ibid. (1602), Ham., II. ii. 384. [They] giue twenty, forty, an hundred Ducates a peece, for his picture in Little.
1635. A. Stafford, Fem. Glory, 7. I shall endeavour to limme her soule in little (since in great neither my time, nor ability will let me).
1655. Stanley, Hist. Philos., III. (1701), 119/1. The Temple was an imitation in little of that at Ephesus.
1724. A. Collins, Gr. Chr. Relig., Pref. 61. This autority was at first exercised in little by those, who [etc.].
1762–71. H. Walpole, Vertue’s Anecd. Paint. (1786), II. 171. Sir Kenelm Digby … compares Vandyck and Hoskins, and says the latter pleased the most, by painting in little.
1842. Tennyson, Gardener’s Dau., 13. A miniature of loveliness, all grace Summ’d up and closed in little.
1873. Browning, Red Cott. Nt.-cap, 137. By Boulevard friendships tempted to come taste How Paris lived again in little there.
C. adv.
1. To only a small extent; in only a slight quantity or degree; but slightly; not much, not very.
The use of the word to qualify adjs. (= ‘not very’) seems to be a Latinism or Gallicism, and has never been common.
c. 1000. Ags. Ps. (Th.), cxviii. 87. Hio me lytle læs [L. paulominus] laþe woldan, ðisses eorð-weʓes ende ʓescrifan.
c. 1200. Ormin, 3751. Þatt te birrþ … lætenn swiþe unnorneliȝ & litell off þe sellfenn.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Serm., Sel. Wks. I. 139. Þei loven to litil þe sheep.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 13912. He drof at hym with þe dart, derit hym but litle.
a. 1450. Myrc, 21. Luytel ys worthy þy prechynge Ȝef thow be of euyle lyuynge.
1484. Caxton, Fables af Æsop, II. xvii. Who that preyseth hym self lytyll he is ful wyse.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. VII., 17. Remembryng the olde proverbe, love me litle and love me longe.
1601. R. Johnson, Kingd. & Commw. (1603), 82. They … intermeddle little in the ordinary government of the state.
1710. Addison, Tatler, No. 192, ¶ 2. They liked us as little as they did one another.
1766. Goldsm., Vic. W., iii. He … found that such friends as benefits had gathered round him were little estimable.
1812. Sir H. Davy, Chem. Philos., 4. The most refined doctrines of this enlightened people were little more than a collection of vague speculations.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., ii. I. 161. A zeal little tempered by humanity or by common sense.
1876. Gladstone, Homeric Synchr., 126. But this is little material.
b. When, contrary to the usual order, little is placed before the vb. which it qualifies, it becomes an emphatic negative, as in he little knows = ‘he is very far from knowing.’ This use is confined to the vbs. know, think, care, and synonyms of these.
c. 1200. Moral Ode, 137, in Trin. Coll. Hom., 224. Litel wot he hwat is pine.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 1834. Littel roght þam of his manance.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Edw. IV., 227 b. They would littel thynk, that he would so untrewly handle me.
1667. Milton, P. L., IV. 86. They little know How dearly I abide that boast so vaine.
1802. Mar. Edgeworth, Moral T. (1816), I. xix. 164. He little imagined of how much consequence it might be.
1819. Shelley, Cenci, V. iii. Little cares for a smile or a tear The clay-cold corpse upon the bier!
† 2. A little time (before); for a little time. Obs.
c. 1200. Ormin, 463. Alls I seȝȝde nu littlær.
a. 1225. Leg. Kath., 1918. For me lauerd, Iesu Crist, mi deorewurðe leofmon, lutel ear me haueð ileaðet.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 14188. Ne was þou noght bot littel gan Almast þar wit þe juus slan?
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, i. (Petrus), 549. Þe vilne … Þat lytil befor tholit he of thame namyt of galele.
1604. E. G[rimstone], D’Acosta’s Hist. Indies, VII. x. 523. The Mexicaines by this meanes, remained much eased and content, but it lasted little.
3. Comb., as little-able, -heard-of, -known, -loved, -travelled, -used adjs.; little-bless v., nonce-wd., = Heb. bērēk (‘bless’ euphemistically for ‘curse’).
1825. Coleridge, Lett. Convers., etc. II. xlv. 225. May God bless you, and your *little-able but most sincere friend.
1610. Broughton, Job i. 5. It may be my children have sinned, and *little-blessed God in their hart.
1787. Bentham, Def. Usury, i. 3. The … *little-heard-of offence of Maintenance.
1894. Pop. Sci. Monthly, June, 162. That singular and *little-known people the Mosquito Indians.
a. 1586. Sidney, Arcadia, II. (1590), 102. Being ridde of this louing, but *little-loued company.
1889. Hissey, Tour in Phaeton, 211. A *little-travelled land, this.
1900. E. A. Dix. in Everybody’s Mag., III. 585/1. As they went to the *little-used front door and peered out into the summer dusk, three great hay-wagons hove in sight.
