least.
Chiefly preceded by the: superlative form of little: most little.
Meaning & usage
Chiefly preceded by the: superlative form of little: most little. Chiefly used with abstract nouns: less than all others in extent or size; littlest, smallest.
least common multiple
Chiefly preceded by the: superlative form of little: most little. Chiefly used with abstract nouns: less than all others in extent or size; littlest, smallest. Of two or more animals or plants with the same name: the smaller or smallest.
least weasel
Chiefly preceded by the: superlative form of little: most little. Lowest in importance or status; most insignificant or unimportant.
Chiefly preceded by the: superlative form of little: most little. Followed by an agent noun: of a person: who does some action to the smallest degree.
Where this word comes from
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
Chiefly preceded by the: superlative form of little: most little. Smallest in amount or extent.
He earns the least money in his family.
Of all the sisters, she has the least patience.
Chiefly preceded by the: superlative form of little: most little. Followed by a plural noun: the smallest number of; the fewest.
Whichever queue contains the least items by the time this logic branch is reached will be executed first.
Chiefly preceded by the: superlative form of little: most little. Any, no matter how small in amount or extent.
not even the least amount
It is indicative of his true character that he could not manage to show even the least bit of courtesy in such a situation.
Where this word comes from
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
In a degree below all others; in the lowest or smallest degree.
My best routine was the one I had practised the least.
I don’t much like housework, and doing the dishes least of all.
Used to form superlatives of adjectives, especially those that do not form the superlative by adding -est.
It was the least surprising thing.
Where this word comes from
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
Preceded by the: superlative form of little: most little; the lowest-ranking or most insignificant person or (sometimes) group of people.
even the least of
The pastor preached that even the least of God’s creatures deserves freedom from needless or idle cruelty.
Something of the smallest possible extent; an indivisible unit; a minimum.
Where this word comes from
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
Chiefly preceded by the: superlative form of little: most little; the smallest amount or extent of something.
I’m giving least of all towards her present.
Where this word comes from
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
At least.
Where this word comes from
Contraction of at least.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.