# less

Pronunciation: say "LES" /lɛs/

## Determiner

1. A smaller amount of something; not as much ('less sugar'; 'less than ten miles').
   - Simple: A smaller amount of something, not as much.
   - _Engineers used less concrete in the revised foundation._
   - _There was less enthusiasm for the plan after the budget cuts._
4. A smaller number of; fewer. *(nonstandard)*
   - Simple: A smaller number of countable things.
   - _Less than a dozen volunteers turned up despite the weather._
   - _The store stocked less varieties of bread after the supplier changed._

## Adverb

2. To a smaller extent or degree; not so much, often before an adjective or adverb to form its comparative ('less expensive'; 'she worries less now').
   - Simple: Not as much, or to a smaller degree, as in 'less expensive'.
   - _The new medication makes him drowsy, though noticeably less than the old one._
   - _Voters seemed less interested in the campaign this year._

## Noun

3. An amount or quantity smaller than another.
   - Simple: A smaller amount or quantity of something.
   - _The architects proved that a comfortable home could be built with less._
   - _After the cutbacks, the department was expected to deliver more with less._

## Preposition

5. Minus; not including the stated amount.
   - Simple: Used to show an amount taken away, the same as minus.
   - _The settlement totaled forty thousand dollars, less legal fees._
   - _The bill came to four hundred dollars, less the ten percent discount for members._

## Conjunction

8. Unless; used to introduce a condition that must be met. *(dialectal)*
   - Simple: Unless, or if not.
   - _We'll lose the crop less the rain comes soon._
   - _He said he wouldn't sign less they raised the pay._

## Adjective

6. Smaller; lesser in size or importance. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: Smaller in size or importance.

## Verb

7. To make less; to reduce or lessen. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: To make something smaller or to reduce it.

## Other meanings

- (verb) Nonstandard alternative form of let's, mainly in casual writing ("less go").

## Origin

**Meanings 1–7** — From Middle English les, from Old English lǣs ("smaller, less"), from Proto-Germanic *laisiz and Proto-Indo-European *leys- ("to shrink, grow thin, be gentle"). It is related to Old Frisian lēs and Old Saxon lēs. According to Kroonen (2013), it comes from a northern Indo-European root *leh₂is- or *leh₃is-, which he links to Lithuanian liesas ("lean"). The determiner and preposition come from Old English lǣssa, and the verb and noun come from the Middle English determiner.
**Meaning 8** — From Middle English lesse or les, from Old English lǣs ("less"); later felt as a shortened unless and often written 'less.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/less (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).