LITTLE

Meaning

Small, not large, limited, particularly

Etymology

Origin: Old English

From Middle English litel, litell, luitel, lutel, lutil, luytel, from Old English lȳtel, lyttel, from Proto-West Germanic *lūtil (“little”), from *lūtan (“to bow down, lout”), from Proto-Germanic *lūtaną (“to bow down, lout”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewd- (“to bend, crouch, duck”), equivalent to lout + -le. Cognates Cognate with Yola lethel, litha, lithel, lythea (“little”), North Frisian letj (“little, small”), Saterland Frisian litje (“little, small”), West Frisian lyts (“little, small”), Dutch luttel (“few, little, mere”), German lütt, lützel (“little, small”), Low German lütt, lüttje (“little, small”), Danish liden, lille (“little, small”), Elfdalian litn (“small”), Faroese lítil (“little, small”), Icelandic lítill (“little, small”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish liten (“little, small”), Crimean Gothic lista (“insufficient, very little”), Gothic 𐌻𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌹𐌻𐍃 (leitils, “little, small”); also Albanian lus, lut (“to beg, plead, request”), Lithuanian liūdnas (“sad, sorrowful”), Bulgarian and Macedonian луд (lud, “crazy, insane, mad”), Serbo-Croatian лу̑д, lȗd (“crazy”). Related also to Old English lūtan (“to bow, bend low”); and perhaps to Old English lytiġ (“deceitful”), Gothic 𐌻𐌹𐌿𐍄𐍃 (liuts, “deceitful”). More at lout.

Synonyms & Antonyms

NYT Puzzle Appearances

Accepted in 25 recorded puzzles:

• 2026-09-08IACEFLT
• 2026-09-03TCEIKLN
• 2026-06-13IAEKLTV
• 2026-04-11LDIGEHT
• 2026-03-25LEINPTY
• 2026-02-08IBELNTU
• 2026-01-12IATECLZ
• 2025-11-29IATNHEL
• 2025-09-30IBTOLCE
• 2025-07-10LEPMINT
• 2025-07-03LEUMITV
• 2025-06-10TEMIGLZ

+13 earlier appearances in the archive.