few, a.
(fjuː)
Forms: 1 féawe, féawa, féa, 2 fæu, 2–3 feawe, Orm. fæwe, 4 south. veawe, (3 feaue), 3–6 fewe, 3–4 south. vewe, 3–5 feu(e, (3 feuwe, fawe, south. vawe, fowe, 6 feowe), 3 fa, 3–5 fo(e, fon(e, (3 foun, fune, 5 fewne, foyn(e), 4– few. compar. 4 fewere, Sc. fewar, foner, 6– fewer. superl. 5 fewis(t, 6– fewest.
[Common Teut.: OE. féawe pl. (usually féawa on the analogy of the adverbial fela, fele many), contracted féa, corresp. to OFris. fê (very rare), OS. fâh, OHG. fao, fô, pl. fôhe, ON. fá-r (Sw. få, Da. foa), Goth. fawai pl.; repr. OTeut. *fawo-, cognate with L. pau-cus, Gr. παῦ-ρος of same meaning, L. paullus little (:—*pau-r-los), pau-per poor, and perh. with Gr. παύειν to stop.
The equivalent words in OHG. and ON., and the synonymous cognates in Gr. and Lat., were occasionally used in sing. with the senses ‘rare’, ‘not numerous’, ‘small in quantity’. In OE. the sing. is not recorded, unless féa with partitive genitive (as in féa worda) may sometimes be neut. absol.; cf. similar use of ON. fátt, Fr. un peu de. The use of féa as adv. ‘little, not much’ is another survival of the prehistoric use of the sing. The word is not found in the extant remains of ONorthumbrian. The ME. forms fa (northern), fo (northern and north midland) have the appearance of being from ON.; the forms fon(e, foun, fewne, etc. seem to have arisen from the addition of n as a plural suffix, but the n remains in the comparative foner.]
1. Not many; amounting to a small number. Often preceded by but, † full, so, too, very, † well.
Without prefixed word, few usually implies antithesis with ‘many’, while in a few, some few the antithesis is with ‘none at all’. Cf. ‘few, or perhaps none’, ‘a few, or perhaps many’.
a. qualifying a plural n. expressed or to be supplied from context.
| c 900 Bæda's Hist. i. xvi. [xxix.] (1890) 88 Þætte her wære micel rip onweard & fea worhton. 1154 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1138 Mid fæu men. c 1200 Vices & Virtues (1888) 25 Ðis understandeþ auer to feawe saules. c 1275 Lay. 26669 [Hii] leope to þan Bruttus and feue hii þar nemen. a 1300 Cursor M. 27864 (Cott.) Þar es sinnes foun..wers for to mend. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 764 Fone men may now fourty yhere pas, And foner fifty. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) vii. 24 In Egipte er bot fewe castelles. c 1420 Sir Amadace (Camden) lxx, Ther is ladis now in lond fulle foe That wold haue seruut hor lord soe. c 1440 York Myst. xxi. 72 With wordes fewne. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 123 b, The gyfte of prerogatyue called discrecyon..is but in fewe persones. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 111 That euer this Fellow should haue fewer words then a Parret. 1599 ― Much Ado i. i. 7 How many Gentlemen haue you lost? But few. 1611 Bible Job xiv. 1 Man that is borne of a woman, is of few dayes. 1734 Berkeley Hylas & P. (ed. 3) ii. Wks. 1871 I. 306 Few men think, yet all have opinions. 1751 Orrery Remarks on Swift, Guilty in so few sentences of so many solecisms. 1762–71 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) III. 47 No fewer than twenty-eight views. 1845 Budd Dis. Liver 280 Among the numbers of bodies that I examined..very few..had gall-stones. 1870 E. Peacock Ralf Skirl. II. 189 A man of few words. |
b. absol. = few persons.
| Beowulf 1412 (Gr.) He feara sum beforan gengde. c 975 Rushw. Gosp. Matt. xx. 16 Moniᵹe forþon sindun ᵹecæᵹed & feawe soðlice ᵹecoren. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. ibid., And feawa ᵹecorene. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 950 For nis him no derure for to adweschen feole þen fewe. a 1300 Cursor M. 8496 (Cott.) Fa it wist quat it wald mene. c 1340 Ibid. 19495 (Trin.) Of fewere þen of þre may no bisshop sacred be. c 1430 Syr Tryam. 540 Fewe for hym wepyth. 1484 Caxton Fables of Alfonce (1889) 1 Many one ben frendes of wordes only, but fewe ben in fayth or dede. 1548 Hall Chron. 161 Many sought for him, but few espied hym. 1653 Holcroft Procopius i. 8 The Enemy..entring the Town by few at a time. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) V. 47 That curiosity very few have an opportunity of gratifying. 1821 Shelley Hellas 184 Few dare, and few who dare Win the desired communion. |
c. followed by partitive genitive, and later by
of.
| Beowulf 2662 (Gr.) Fea worda cwæð. 918 O.E. Chron. an. 918 Hira feawa on weᵹ comon. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. ix. 37 Witodlice micel rip ys, and feawa wyrhtyna. 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 402 Þere of scapede vewe alyue. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1725) 242 He went to play a wile with fo of his banere. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 14 Fewe of them..miscaryed. 1611 Bible Deut. vii. 7 Ye were the fewest of all people. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 445 Few of the members of the late cabinet had any reason to expect his favour. 1875 Helps Es., Aids Contentment 11 How few of your fellow-creatures can have the opportunity. |
d. predicatively,
freq. in
phr. few and far between.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter cvii. 39 Fea ᵹewordne sindun. c 1000 Ags. Ps. cviii[i]. 8 Sien dæᵹas his fea. a 1300 E.E. Psalter cvi[i]. 39 Þai ere fone made. a 1300 Cursor M. 8599 (Cott.) Þair clathes was sa gnede and fa. 1483 Cath. Angl. 129/2 To be Fewe, rarere. 1594 Hooker Eccl. Pol. i. (1676) 71 It behoveth our words to be wary and few. 1668 R. Verney Let. c July in Mem. Verney Fam. (1899) IV. iii. 89 Hedges are few and far between. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 93 ¶1 We are always complaining our Days are few. 1764 Goldsm. Trav. 212 If few their wants, their pleasures are but few. 1799 T. Campbell Pleasures of Hope ii. 375 What though my wingèd hours of bliss have been, Like angel-visits, few and far between? 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 441 The gunmakers of Utrecht were found too few to execute the orders. 1863 Lyell Antiq. Man 4 They may be fewer in number than was supposed. 1865 J. C. Wilcocks Sea Fisherman (1875) 163 The weed becomes very troublesome, and the fish consequently few and far between. 1965 Listener 20 May 759/3 Repair garages which are equally few and far between. |
e. some few: an inconsiderable number of. Also
ellipt.,
absol., and followed by
of.
| 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, iii. iii. 4 The king..lately landed With some few priuate friends. 1621 Bp. R. Montagu Diatribæ 526 Vnlesse ‘some few’ and ‘many’ in your language be all one. 1684 J. Lacy Sir H. Buffoon v. 111 Dram. Wks. (1875) 294 Jud. He is the first subject that ever made himself a Knight. Her. Not by some few, my lord. 1747 S. Fielding Lett. David Simple (1752) II. 158 Some few women. Mod. Some few of the survivors are still living. |
f. the few: a specified company small in number; often with qualifying
adj. Now often
= ‘the minority’; opposed to
the many.
| 1549 Coverdale Erasm. Par. 2 Cor. vi. 17 They are but fewe, but onles ye auoyde the same fewes companie. 1676 Marvell Mr. Smirke 28 A Few of the Few..have been carrying on a constant Conspiracy. 1697 Dryden Virg. æneid ix. 244 The wakeful few, the fuming Flaggon ply. 1777 Priestley Matt. & Spir. (1782) I. Pref. 10 The favour of the few may silence the clamour of the many. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 183 A life not for the many, but for the few. |
† g. ellipt. in few = in few words; in short. Also,
to speak few (
= L.
pauca loqui).
Obs.| 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 246 b, Be euer doynge well, & speke but fewe. 1565 Jewel Def. Apol. (1611) 116 To say al in few, they refused the name. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, i. i. 112 In few; his death..tooke fire and heate away. 1611 B. Jonson Catiline iii. ii, I'll..end in few. 1667 Milton P.L. x. 157 He thus to Eve in few: Say Woman, what is this which thou hast done? 1725 Pope Odyss. i. 476 The firm resolve I here in few disclose. 1742 Young Nt. Th. ix. 533 In few, to close the whole, The moral muse has shadow'd out a sketch. 1848 J. A. Carlyle tr. Dante's Inferno (1849) 71 Who shall tell in few the many fresh pains and travails that I saw? |
h. at (the) fewest: at the lowest estimate of number.
| a 1400–50 Alexander 3599 Of sithid chariotis him sued..At þe fewist, as I find a fouretene thousand. Ibid. 3738 Of females at þe fewis foure & xxti Mille. |
2. Like the cardinal numerals,
few may be used to form with a plural
n. a virtual collective noun, preceded by
a,
every, or (rarely)
that, but construed with plural verb. (
Cf. ME. an five mile,
an fourti ȝer; and see
every 1 e.)
a. a few: a small number of.
not a few: many.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 18 Þe kyng with a fewe men hym⁓self flew at þe laste. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 641 A fewe termes coude he. c 1400 Rom. Rose 5988 He shall in a fewe stoundes Lese all his markes. 1550 Sir R. Morysine Let. 17 Dec. in Tytler Edw. VI, I. 345 I pray you let me now and then have a few lines from you. 1611 Shakes. Cymb. iv. ii. 283 Heere's a few Flowres. 1744 Berkeley Siris §82 The..constant use of tar-water for a few weeks. 1796 H. Hunter tr. St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) II. 474, I will deliver my thoughts..in a few words. 1848 W. H. Bartlett Egypt to Pal. x. (1879) 220 One rock a few feet square. |
b. with ellipsis of
n. Often followed by
of. Also
absol. a few persons;
occas. with an
adj., as
a faithful few,
select, etc. few, in which it approaches the nature of a
n. † a fewer: a smaller number
of.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 19782 (Cott.) He badd þa men be all vte-don, þat in þat hus left bot a fon. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 953 Al þe feldes þo wern y-fuld of dede men on þe grounde, Saue an vewe þat leye & ȝulde. a 1400–50 Alexander 2061 Fra his faes with a fewe þe filde to de-voide. c 1460 Towneley Myst. (Surtees) 105, I shall say thertylle of good wordes a foyne. 1547 Latimer Serm. & Rem. (1845) 426 Of which sort we have a fewer amongst us than I would. 1601 Shakes. All's Well i. i. 73 Loue all, trust a few, Doe wrong to none. 1719 De Foe Crusoe (1882) 540 Thieves, of which, it seems there were not a few. 1723 Pope Let. to Swift 12 Jan., To pass my days with you, and a few such as you. a 1745 Swift Wks. 1778 VI. 358 Party is the madness of many, for the gain of a few. 1801 Southey Thalaba i. xliii, A faithful few Prest through the throng to join him. 1871 Morley Voltaire (1886) 2 A level which had..been reached only by a few. 1872 Hardwick Trad. Lanc. 175 A select few of tried old friends. |
c. that few: rarely used for
those few.
| 1854 Tennyson To F. D. Maurice 5 That honest few Who give the Fiend himself his due. 1861 A. Lincoln Message to Congress 3 Dec., A few men own capital, and that few avoid labour themselves. |
d. a good few: a fair number (
of); (
dial. and
colloq.).
quite a few (
U.S.): a considerable number.
| 1828 D. M. Moir Mansie Wauch vii. 58 We collected a good few friends to a tea-drinking. 1863 Mrs. Toogood Yorksh. Dial., There were a good few apples on it. 1864 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. IV. 122 Of cannon a good few. 1865 Ibid. V. xix. v. 499 A good few sorrows. 1865 J. G. Bertram Harvest of Sea (1873) 85 As soon as they are able to eat—which is not for a good few days. 1883 P. Robinson in Harper's Mag. Oct. 706/1 There's quite a few about among the rocks. |
e. every few (hours, miles, etc.): every series or group of a few; chiefly in
advb. phrases.
f. to have a few (in): to have or to have had several alcoholic drinks.
colloq.| 1946 F. Sargeson That Summer 132 He had a good few in certainly, and so had Maggie, but they weren't all that tight. 1947 ‘A. P. Gaskell’ Big Game 88 They'll probably have a few in by this time too, and boy, would I like to be the same. 1960 M. Spark Ballad of Peckham Rye vii. 150 ‘Nelly's had a few,’ Humphrey said... ‘She's a bit shaky on the pins tonight.’ 1968 K. Weatherly Roo Shooter 2/3 The shooter walked fifteen or twenty miles carrying his swag, had a few at the pub, then found somewhere to roll his bluey. |
g. the Few [an allusion to a speech of Sir Winston Churchill: see
quot. 1940], an informal title of respect for the R.A.F. pilots who took part in the Battle of Britain.
| [1940 W. S. Churchill Into Battle (1941) 259 Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.] 1941 Illustr. London News 19 Apr. 518/1 In the above series of portraits,..the artist..shows characteristic types of those few to whom ‘so many owe so much’. 1960 B. Robertson Spitfire viii. 34/2 (caption) One of the ‘few’. A fighter pilot rigged for battle. 1963 D. Irving Destruction of Dresden i. i. 26 On the 18th [July 1940] the Few brought down 71 enemy planes. 1978 Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts CXXVI. 25/2 The scientists.., together with the Few, had saved Britain in 1940 when everything appeared lost. |
† 3. Of a company or number: Small. So of a leader,
to be few in number.
Obs.| 1460 Paston Lett. No. 357 I. 526 The Duc of Excestre and other, with a few mayne. 1475 Bk. Noblesse, He saw so few a companie of the Romains. 1531 Elyot Gov. i. xviii, A few nombre of houndes. c 1565 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (1728) 120 The earl of Angus was come..and but a few number with him. c 1610 Sir J. Melvil Mem. (1735) 13 He..did ride to the Parties himself with a few company. 1611 Bible Gen. xxxiv. 30, I being few in number. 1711 Swift Let. 19 July, There was a drawing-room to-day..but so few company, that [etc.]. 1828 C. Wordsworth Charles I, Author of Icôn Basilikè 133 Their number assuredly has not been few. |
4. Of quantity: Not much.
a few: a little.
a. qualifying a
n. in
sing. Obs. exc. dial. in
a few broth,
few gruel,
few porridge.
[Possibly a survival of the use of the
sing. of the
adj. as in
ON.; but the
ns. to which it is now prefixed are treated in dialects as plural, and referred to with
pl. pronoun.]
| 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. vii. 269 A fewe Cruddes and Craym. 1550 Lever Serm. (Arb.) 122 Hauyng a fewe porage made of the brothe of the same byefe. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 199 Broath..to sup now and then a few. 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 68 A pecke..of malte and some few honey. 1803 S. Pegge Anecd. Eng. Lang. xvi. (1844) 181 ‘Stay a few while,’ a Londoner says. 1825 Brockett N.C. Words 73 A ‘little few broth’. 1881 Leicestersh. Gloss., ‘Av’ a few moor broth..thee're very good to-dee!’ |
b. absol. a few. Used
colloq. or
slang in ironical sense,
= ‘a good bit’; also
adverbially. Also,
not a few: considerably.
[Perh.
orig. a comic Gallicism, after
Fr. un peu.]
| 1761 A. Murphy Citizen II. i, I..throw my eyes about a few. 1778 Susan Burney Let. in Mad. D'Arblay's Early Diary July, Your letter which diverted him not a few. 1807 W. Irving Salmag. (1824) 199 He was determined to astonish the natives a few! 1837–40 Haliburton Clockm. (1862) 177 You must lie a few to put 'em off well. 1855 Smedley H. Coverdale v. 26 ‘Can you sit a leap?’ ‘I believe you, rayther, just a very few.’ 1857 Kingsley Two Y. Ago III. vii, If one man in a town has pluck and money, he may do it. It'll cost him a few. 1865 Lowell Lett. (1894) I. 347, I am..a little few (un petit peu) vexed. a 1953 H. Belloc Coll. Poems (1958) 136 When Mr Rhys shall hear that you Are in the hands of the police It will disturb him not a few. |
5. Comb., parasynthetic, as
few-acred,
few-celled,
few-flowered,
few-layered,
few-seeded,
few-whorled.
| 1847 Longfellow Ev. ii. ii. 9 *Few-acred farmers. |
| 1875 Dawson Dawn of Life vi. 139 *Few-celled germs. |
| 1776 Withering Brit. Plants (1796) II. 138 *Few-flowered. 1861 Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. VI. 25 Few-flowered Sedge. Spikelet of from four to six flowers, the two upper barren. |
| 1884 Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. & Ferns 518 Narrow one- or *few-layered bands. |
| 1830 Lindley Nat. Syst. Bot. 175 *Few-seeded fruit. |
| 1851 Woodward Mollusca 83 Shell involute..*few-whirled. |