▪ I. less, a. (n.), adv., and conj.
(lɛs)
Forms: 1 inflected adj. lǽssa (lǽsse fem. and neut.), Northumb. léassa, uninflected lǽs, 2–5 lasse, 2–7 les, 3– 7 lesse, (4 lass, 4, 6 Sc. lese), 4–5 las, 4– less.
[(1) The OE. lǽs adv. (occas. used quasi-n. and as uninflected adj.) corresponds to OFris. lês:—OTeut. type *laisiz, f. *laiso- (not elsewhere found with the sense ‘small’) + -iz comparative suffix (see -er3), which in OE. disappears by phonetic law, as in bet, leng advs. (2) The OE. lǽssa adj. corresponds to OFris. lêssa:—OTeut. type *laisizon-, f. *laisiz: see above, and cf. -er3 A. The disappearance of the middle vowel was presumably prior to the WGer. change of z into r; the OFris. lêssera is doubtless, like Eng. lesser, a new formation.
The OTeut. type *laiso-, pre-Teut. *loiso-, appears to be cogn. w. Lith. lësa-s:—*leiso-, small. Whether there is any connexion with *leid-, *līd- in Goth. leitils little is very doubtful. Cf. the alleged Crim-Gothic lista ‘parum’.]
A. adj. Used as the comparative of little. I. In concord with n. expressed or understood.
1. a. Of not so great size, extent, or degree (as something mentioned or implied); of inferior dimensions, bulk, duration, etc.; smaller. Opposed (in mod. Eng.) to greater. Obs. with reference to material dimensions (superseded by smaller); still current with reference to number, degree, etc.
| c 1000 ælfric Gen. i. 16 Þæt mare leoht to þæs dæᵹes lihtinge and þæt læsse leoht to þære nihte lihtinge. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 179 Þe more fishes in þe se eten þe lasse. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 11689 Þe bissop..prechede hom þat hii adde of deþ þe lasse fere. ? a 1300 Shires, etc. Eng. in O.E. Misc. 145 On engle londe syndon two and þrytti schire, summe more and summe lasse. a 1300 Cursor M. 436 (Gött.) Summe of less [v. rr. lesse, lasse] and sum of more prise. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. iii. iv. (1495) 51 The soule is noughte more in a more body, nother lasse in a lasse body. c 1400 Destr. Troy 5961 The light wax las. c 1440 Gesta Rom. i. iv. 10 (Harl. MS.) Hit is wreten that of too Evelis þe lasse Evill is to be chosyn. c 1449 Pecock Repr. i. xiv. 74 Herfore it is the lasse merveil. 1567 J. Maplet Gr. Forest 49 Akoniton..hath leaves like the Cucumber, but somewhat more lesse and rough. 1598 Yong Diana iii. 70 Other kindes of lesse trees..twyning about the greater. 1610 Shakes. Temp. i. ii. 335 Teach me how To name the bigger Light, and how the lesse That burne by day, and night. 1673 Ray Journey Low C. 38 Shags..are very like to Cormorants, only less. 1692 R. L'Estrange Fables xix. (1708) 26 Rather than bear a Less Misfortune to Hazzard a Greater. 1718 Prior Henry & Emma 430 Fine by degrees and beautifully less. 1757 Jos. Harris Coins 41 Every one will see and understand that 19 is less than 20. 1794 S. Williams Vermont 83 The female is less than the male. 1816 Byron Prisoner of Chillon viii, And then the sighs he would suppress..grew less and less. 1871 Morley Voltaire (1886) 1 The peculiarities of his individual genius changed the mind and spiritual conformation of France, and in a less degree, of the whole of the West. |
b. Of smaller quantity or amount; not so much. Opposed to more.
| c 1314 Guy Warw. (A.) 1697 In lasse while þan þat was Might falle mani wonder cas. 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xl. (Ninian) 443 Þan to þe catel þai tuk les kepe. 1484 Caxton Fables of Auian xxv, Somtyme the children whiche ben preysed and loued done lesse good than they whiche ben despreysed and hated. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, iv. iv. 34, I owe him little Dutie, and lesse Loue. 1596 ― 2 Hen. IV, iv. v. 7 Lesse noyse, lesse noyse. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. ix. i. §44 The Queen knowing it less difficulty and danger to keep him, then to cast him out of her Dominions. 1664 J. Webb Stone-Heng (1725) 19 We cannot yet give Credit, and less shall, to one Word he saith. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 854 More glorie will be wonn, Or less be lost. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. v. 72 With less Trouble and Charge. 1853 G. Brimley Ess., Bleak House 285 We should then have less crowd and no story. 1853 Gladstone Sp. 18 Apr. Financ. Statem. (1863) 5 The estimate for the present year cannot, I fear, be expected to be much less, if at all less, than 530,000l. |
c. A smaller number of; fewer. This originates from the OE. construction of lǽs adv. (quasi-n.) with a partitive genitive. Freq. found but generally regarded as incorrect.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxxv. §5 [6] Swa mid læs worda swa mid ma, swæðer we hit ᵹereccan maᵹon. 1481 Caxton Godfrey cl. 222 By cause he had so grete plente of men of hys owne countre, he called the fewer and lasse to counseyll of the noble men of the Cyte. 1579 Lyly Euphues To Gentl. Oxf. (Arb.) 208, I thinke there are few Vniuersities that haue lesse faultes than Oxford, many that haue more. 1862 M. D. Colt Went to Kansas 84, I may see them all doing with still less comforts. 1873 Nature 1 May 15/2 The determination of position in the given manifoldness is reduced to a determination of quantity and to a determination of position in a manifoldness of less dimensions. 1874 Rep. Brit. Assoc. Adv. Sci. 1873 53 To return to the history of logarithmic tables to a less number of figures. 1904 Amer. Jrnl. Philol. XXV. 234 There might have been less barbed wire, less flaring flowers. 1971 Guardian 16 Dec. 16/1 The 47-page prospectus..shows that there are less restrictions..than is generally supposed. 1972 ‘E. Lathen’ Murder without Icing (1973) ii. 21 You've seen less hockey games than my wife. |
2. a. Of lower station, condition, or rank; inferior. Obs. exc. in phrases like no less a person than.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xi. 11 Seðe uutedlice læssa [Rushw. lessa] is in ric heofna mara is of ðæm. a 1200 Moral Ode 390 Al þat is & al þat wes is wurse þenne he [God] and lesse. a 1300 Cursor M. 12166 Noght yee ne vnderstod for-þi Less i wat er yee þan i. c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 19 Þis secounde feste was algatis lasse. c 1400 Destr. Troy 2948 Ladys and oþer les wemen. 1444 Rolls of Parlt. V. 113/1 By colour of tenure of lasse Tenentz. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 14 To poure gentilmen, or to other of lasse degre. c 1450 tr. De Imitatione i. xx. 24 ‘As ofte tymes as I was amonge men, I come a lasse man’, þat is to say lesse holy. 1609 Bible (Douay) Hos. Comm., Foure are called the greater prophetes, and twelve the lesse. 1652 Needham tr. Selden's Mare Cl. 40 Cotzensis and Moses Maimonides besides others of a less account. 1869 Tennyson Coming of Arthur 12 And so there grew great tracts of wilderness, Wherein the beast was ever more and more, But man was less and less, till Arthur came. |
† b. Of action: Not so great, worthy, or excellent. Obs. rare—1.
| 1685 Earl Halifax On Death Chas. II, 104 'Tis less to conquer, than to make Wars cease. |
† c. less of, less in: inferior in point of. Obs.
| 1307 Elegy Edw. I, x, God lete him ner be worse man Then is fader, ne lasse of myht. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 598 Þe lasse in werke to take more [is] able. 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints ii. (Paulus) 49 Paule wes lese of dingnite. 1535 Coverdale 2 Esdras v. 55 Ye are lesse of stature, then those that were before you. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, ii. iii. 15 And hope to ioy, is little lesse in ioy, Then hope enioy'd. 1594 ― Rich. III, iv. iv. 299 A Grandams name is little lesse in loue, Then is the doting Title of a Mother. 1654 Earl of Monmouth tr. Bentivoglio's Warrs Flanders 32 By how much the Regent went every day less in her authority. |
3. a. Used spec. to characterize the smaller, inferior, or (after Latin use) younger, of two persons or things of the same name; = L. minor. (Cf. lesser.) † Less Britain, † Britain the less: Brittany. Obs. exc. in the designation James the Less, and occasional imitations of this.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Mark xv. 40 Ðæs iacobes leasse [Jacobi minoris]. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 2120 To þe lasse brutaine þer ne come aliue none. a 1300 Cursor M. 13299 Þe less jam and sant Thomas. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) xxv. 259 Ynde the lesse. 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) I. 145 Asia the lesse towcheth in the este parte Capadocy. c 1550 Lloyd Treas. Health (1585) S ij, With .ix graines of leasse spurge or of Pioni. 1597 Morley Introd. Mus. Annot., Betwixt mi and fa is not a full halfe note, but is lesse then halfe a note by a comma: and therefore called the lesse halfe note. 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. ii. iv. Columnes 490 The Tyrant of lesse-Asia. 1613 Zouch Dove 39 Allan, the Earle of lesse Brittain. 1614 Selden Titles Hon. 344 Barons with the rest vpward we call the Greater Nobilitie, the others beneath them the Lesse Nobilitie. 1843 Macaulay Mme. D'Arblay Ess. 1865 III. 310 Dr. Franklin, not, as some have dreamed, the great Pennsylvanian Dr. Franklin,..but Dr. Franklin the less. |
† b. the less world = microcosm.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 552 Man es clepid þe lesse werld. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. viii. i. (1495) 293 Man is callyd the lasse worlde, for he shewyth in hymselfe lyknesse of all the worlde. c 1400 tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 88 It holdys yn him alle þe elymentz, and it is callyd þe lesse world..þe Eye [i.e. egg] of Philosophers. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 1 Lyke as the great worlde was made perfecte in vij dayes, so y⊇ lesse worlde, that is man, is made..perfecte by grace in these vij spirituall dayes. |
† c. less age (Sc.): minority.
| 1524 Arran in St. Papers Hen. VIII, IV. 158 Not as ane pupile in juvente and lese aige, bot as ane maist noble excellent Prince of perfit mature aige. 1531 Hen. VIII ibid. 590 Laying apart thexcuses of mynorite and les age. a 1572 Knox Hist. Ref. Wks. (1846) I. 403 Money, cunȝeit in our Soveraneis less age. 1609 Skene Reg. Majest. ii. lxx. §2 Gif she being of les age, falles in the warde of her over-lord. |
4. Preceding († formerly also, following) a numeral or other quantitative expression, used to denote that the number or quantity indicated is to be subtracted from a larger one mentioned or implied; = minus. Also transf., used (like minus) for ‘not including’, ‘except’.
| O.E. Chron. an. 641 (Laud MS.) He rixode twa læs .xxx. ᵹeara. c 1000 ælfric Gram. xlix. (Z.) 287 Man cweð eac undeuiginti an læs twentiᵹ, duodeuiginti twam læs twentiᵹ, duodetriginta twam læs þrittiᵹ. a 1300 Cursor M. 2168 Tuelue scor o yeires bot an lesse [Trin. saue oon las]. c 1320 Sir Tristr. 2508 Tvelmoneth þre woukes las. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. lxiii. 84 This siege endured a long season, the space of a xi. wekes, thre dayes lesse. 1695 W. Alingham Geom. Epit. i, a-b is thus read a less b, or the remainder after b is taken from a. 1869 Bradshaw's Railway Manual XXI. 304 Dividends were declared at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum in the preference shares, amounting, less income tax, to 1,218 l. 1880 Goldw. Smith in Atlantic Monthly 213 The foundations of natural theology, less the mere name of Deity. 1910 Chambers's Jrnl. Oct. 661/1 If I borrow {pstlg}100..I pay my interest, less tax. 1911 Rep. Labour & Social Conditions Germany (Tariff Reform League) III. vi–vii. 20 All meat is sold less the bone. 1930 Times 25 Mar. 24/2 A full year's dividend on the Preference Shares, less tax, absorbing {pstlg}16,800. 1972 Times 2 Sept. 18/8 Cost of paint..Less VAT input tax..{pstlg}500. |
¶ 5. Used peculiarly by Shakes. with words expressing or implying a negative, where the sense requires ‘more’. Cf. less adv.
| 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. iii. ii. 57, I ne're heard yet, That any of these bolder Vices wanted Lesse Impudence to gaine-say what they did, Then to performe it first. ― Cymb. i. iv. 23 To fortifie her iudgement, which else an easie battery might lay flat, for taking a Begger without lesse quality. |
II. absol. (quasi-n.)
From the point of view of the modern language, these substantival uses may be referred to the adj., though in OE. some of them originated from the adv., and the indeclinable form is therefore used.
6. the less: that which is smaller (of two things compared). Also of persons: He who is or they who are less.
| 1413 Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton) v. i. (1859) 70 Nedes must the lesse be conteyned within the more. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. iii. i. 372 The haire that couers the wit, is more then the wit; for the greater hides the lesse. 1594 Daniel Cleopatra iii. Wks. (Grosart) III. 59 Nemesis..Who..Doth raze the great, and raise the lesse. 1611 Bible Heb. vii. 7 The lesse is blessed of the better. 1865 J. H. Newman Gerontius §3 For spirits and men by different standards mete The less and greater in the flow of time. |
7. a. A less amount, quantity, or number (than one that is specified or implied). less than no time: a jocular hyperbole for an exceedingly short time.
| c 1000 ælfric Exod. xvi. 17 And Israhela bearn dydon swa and gaderodon sum mare sum læsse. c 1050 Byrhtferth's Handboc in Anglia (1885) VIII. 304 ᵹif þær beo læs þon seofon. a 1225 Ancr. R. 6 Sum..mei.. paie god mid lesse. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 403 Ȝif þey wil þey mowe have lasse in þe somer tyme. a 1500 Chaucer's Dreme 1869 Which herbe in lesse than halfe an houre Gan over all knit. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xv. 12 Sum askis far less than he servis. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. i. i. 111 Lesse then a pound shall serue me for carrying your Letter. 1700 Dryden Pal. & Arc. iii. 841 Though less and less of Emily he saw. 1809 Malkin Gil Blas iv. vii. ¶11 Trust me for sinking, burning, and destroying him in less than no time. 1844 Stanley Arnold (1858) I. v. 208 Our little may be more inexcusable than their less was in them. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. cxi, Not being less but more than all The gentleness he seem'd to be. 1853 J. H. Newman Hist. Sk. (1876) 192 The Turks of this day are still in the less than infancy of art. 1877 Spurgeon Serm. XXIII. 588 The less said about her the better. 1879 Whitney Sanskrit Gram. 236 Less than thirty roots form their present-system. 1885 O. W. Holmes Emerson i. 38 Even so late as less than half a century ago. |
b. Qualified adverbially by far, little, much, nothing, something, or phrase denoting quantity. Also no less = ‘nothing less’; for examples see no.
It is often impossible to say whether in the combinations nothing less, something less, the former word is used advb. or whether it is an indefinite pronoun in apposition with less used absol. The combination nothing less than has two quite contrary senses; in the use here treated it means ‘quite equal to, the same thing as’; for the opposite meaning see B. 3.
| c 1200 Vices & Virtues (1888) 45 Ȝif he arrer dede litel te gode, ðar after he doð michele lasse. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 174 For ten mark men solde a litille bulchyn, Litille lesse men told a bouke of a moutoun. 1387 Trevisa tr. Higden (Rolls) IV. 251 Iohn hadde tweie dayes lasse in his moder wombe. 1593 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, ii. v. 100 But yet methinkes, my Fathers execution Was nothing lesse then bloody Tyranny. 1652 T. Gataker Antinomianism 5 In those words of mine nothing les was intended, then this Autor would..enforce them to speak. 1836 C. Fox Jrnl. 23 Sept. (1972) 32 ‘A gentleman’ was announced, who proved to be nothing less than Professor Sedgwick! 1856 Dickens Dorrit (1857) II. i. xxiii. 79 You couldn't do it when your Uncle George was living; much less when he's dead. 1863 J. A. Froude Hist. Eng. (ed. 3) II. xi. 298 But Elizabeth meant nothing less than to recall Sidney. 1865 Daily Tel. 2 Dec. 7/1 We may rest satisfied that the dispute will end in nothing less than a battle royal. c 1874 D. Boucicault in M. R. Booth Eng. Plays of 19th Cent. (1969) II. 174 You are not mistress in your own house, much less lady of the manor. 1895 Bookman Oct. 22/2 His policy became nothing less than a series of gigantic blunders. |
† c. o or of less than, in less than: unless. Obs. (For the fuller treatment of these phrases see unless.)
| c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxv. 118 Na man schall come nere him but lordes, o less þan he call any man till him. 1414 Rolls of Parlt. IV. 22/2 [That] no Lawe be made of lasse than they yaf therto their assent. 1461 Paston Lett. II. 46 Beware that ye aventure not your person..by the See, till ye haue oder word from us, in less than your person cannot be sure there as ye ar. |
B. adv.
1. a. To a less or smaller extent; in a lower degree; to an inferior extent, amount, etc. Often in neg. phr., as none the less, no less, not the less: see no, not, etc.; also natheless, nevertheless, etc.
| c 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. v. xii[i]. (1890) 424 Oðer [dæl] wes nohte þon læs unaarefndlice cele hæᵹles & snawes. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 205/176 Þe lasse he was of heom a-drad. a 1300 Cursor M. 11207 Ihesu crist hir barn sco bar, Hir child, and maiden neuer less [Gött. neuer þe lesse]. c 1386 Chaucer Pard. Prol. & T. 274 If that a prince use hasardrie..He is..Holde the lasse in reputacioun. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 242 The natural hette atte myde-day is lasse stronge. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 102 No goode woman shulde..sette the lasse bi hym for ani sikenesse that God sendithe. 1508 Dunbar Tua mariit wemen 322 The mair he loutit for my luf, the les of him I rakit. 1541 Becon News out of Heaven Prol. (1542) A v b, His worde is, that they shoulde sanctify the Sabbothday... But what do they lesse? 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 5 He fand heit and calde lesse vehement in Scotlande than in france. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 478 Less faire, Less winning soft, less amiablie milde, Then that smooth watry image. 1701 De Foe True-born Eng. 147 None talk on't more, or understand it less. 1798 Coleridge Anc. Mar. vi. xvii, The rock shone bright, the kirk no less. 1808 Scott Marm. i. ii, As the fading ray Less bright and less was flung. |
b. Qualifying an adj. or ppl. adj. used attrib.: often hyphened.
| 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, ii. i. 49 The enuy of lesse happier Lands. 1664 H. More Myst. Iniq., Apol. 538 He is to serve God though in that less-seemly or less-perfect Habit. a 1674 Milton (title) A Brief History of Moscovia: and of other less-known Countries. London..1682. 1689 Burnet Tracts I. 54 If I were writing to a less knowing Man than yourself. 1711 Shaftesbury Charac. (1737) II. 255 There are other over-officious and less-suspected hands. 1818 Cobbett Pol. Reg. XXXIII. 108 In the less-enslaved cities and towns. 1866 M. Arnold Thyrsis xv, The less practised eye of sanguine youth. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 399 Some other less-known members of the Socratic circle. 1886 W. J. Tucker E. Europe 231 Less costly benefits and emoluments, and less extended patronage. |
2. much less, still less († formerly also simply less): used to characterize a statement or suggestion as still more unacceptable than one that has been already denied.
| 1632 B. Jonson Magn. Lady iii. iii, You never fought with any, lesse, slew any. 1663 Gerbier Counsel G iv b, Dimensions and Formes, which are not to be mended, lesse contradicted. 1671 Milton P.R. iii. 236 The world thou hast not seen, much less her glory. 1718 Hickes & Nelson J. Kettlewell App. 55 It is not easily to be expected that any should contradict those Inclinations, less that the Generality should do so. 1719 De Foe Crusoe ii. xv, It had no power to help itself,..much less help them. 1721 Ramsay Content 250 Mere empty spectres..Which merit not your notice, less your care. Mod. I do not even suggest that he is negligent, still less [or much less] that he is dishonest. |
3. † nothing less: least of all things, anything rather (than the thing in question) (obs.). nothing less than: far from being, anything rather than; = F. rien moins que. (Now rare.)
| 1548 Gest Pr. Masse I viij b, Therfore the before mencioned boke is nothinge lesse then canonical. 1551 Robinson tr. More's Utop. i. (1895) 29 He retorned again into hys countreye, nothynge lesse then lokyd for. 1567 Harman Caveat (1869) 31 Hee..saythe that he woulde be glad to take payne for his lyuinge, althoughe he meaneth nothinge lesse. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, ii. ii. 34 Bush. 'Tis nothing but conceit (my gracious Lady). Qu. 'Tis nothing lesse. 1598 R. Grenewey Tacitus' Ann. xii. x. (1622) 169 The Barbarous people know nothing lesse then engines and subtile deuises in besieging and assayling of fortresses. 1656 R. Robinson Christ all 158 Pretending themselves to be the companions of Christ, when indeed they are nothing less. 1827 Scott Napoleon xxvii, Who, trusting to the laws.., expected nothing less than an attack. |
4. For OE. þ{yacu} lǽs þe, early ME. þi les þe, see lest conj.
C. conj. Unless. In early use less than, less that, Sc. less nor. Obs. exc. U.S. dial. and colloq.
When written 'less it represents a contracted form of unless.
| 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 137 Lasse than a kynge..dred god..he shall..fall..in a shorte tyme. 1442 Rolls of Parlt. V. 60/2 Lesse þan..[þei] leve a sufficiaunt man..in their stede. c 1470 Henry Wallace iii. 304 That thai sall do him nocht..less it be on thaim socht. 1513 Douglas æneis i. Prol. 233 Les than wyse autouris lene [i.e. lie]. 1553 Kennedy Compend. Tractive in Wodrow Soc. Misc. (1844) 128 Les nor this medicyne be applyit dewlie, it is not proffitable. 1567 Satir. Poems Reform. vii. 28 Les schamefullie thair office thay abuse. 1601 B. Jonson Poetaster Dial. Hor. & Trebatius, Less learn'd Trebativs censure disagree. 1632 Milton Penseroso 56 And the mute Silence hist along, 'Less Philomel will daign a Song. 1640 H. Glapthorne Wit in Constable iii. Wks. 1874 I. 206 For Musicke, lesse the Virginalls, I never car'd for any. 1760–72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) II. 7, I am sorry..my nothings should be talked of, less it should intimate that other people are less ostentatious. 1892 Kipling Many Invent. (1893) 41 'Less you want your toes trod off, you'd better get back. 1900 ‘Flynt’ & Walton Powers that Prey 62 If any of 'em knows us they'll beef dead sure, 'less we square 'em. 1929 W. Faulkner Sound & Fury 22 They wont know you got wet... Less me and Jason tells. 1973 Black World Apr. 61 Don't no broad be puttin' me down, less I go upside her head. 1973 J. Drummond Bang! Bang! you're Dead! xxxvii. 129 You gonna be like Jinx Janeiro soon, less you listen to me. |
Add: [B.] [1.] c. Special collocation: less developed, spec. applied to a country in which economic growth, income per capita, the literacy level, etc. are low compared with some other group of countries. Cf. developing ppl. a.
| 1940 G. Crowther Outl. Money ii. 76 The more highly developed banking systems are more prone to suffer from such a ‘liquidity preference’ than the *less developed countries. 1962 U.N. Econ. & Social Council Resolution XXXIV. cmxvii, in Unctad—Basic Documents (1966) i. 1 Both the developed and the less developed countries are to intensify their efforts in order to ensure a self-sustaining growth. 1979 Dædalus Winter 85 War and famine might not immediately break out again; but their banishment would depend to a greater extent on..the strength of the less-developed world. 1992 Economist 29 Feb. 77/2 Portugal will be helped in its fiscal consolidation effort by the agreement reached at Maastricht to create an economic cohesion or catch-up fund to help the less developed member states prepare for EMU. |
▪ II. † less, v. Obs.
Also 3–6 lasse, 4 lessi.
[ME. lasse, lessi, f. lasse, lesse less a.]
1. intr. To become less, decrease.
| a 1225 Leg. Kath. 1718 Þe neauer ne linneð nowðer ne lesseð, ah leasteð aa mare. ? c 1325 Old Age vii. in E.E.P. (1862) 149, I lench, i len on lyme, i lasse. c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 414 His men lassed alway tho. c 1450 Cov. Myst. xxiv. (Shaks. Soc.) 223 My grett desesse I hope xall lesse. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. cxcvii. 174 Syr Thomas men lancastre lassed and slaked. 1483 ― G. de la Tour E vij, And thenne shalle lasse the pestylence and pees shalle be. 1496 Dives & Paup. (W. de W.) i. xlvii. 88/1 Our synnes alwaye encreaseth & lesseth not. 1502 Ord. Crysten Men (W. de W. 1506) v. ii. 357 That [the fire] of hell is eternall, & neuer lesseth. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccxlix. 369 The englishmen were sore displeased, for their strength dayly lassed. 1602 T. Fitzherbert Apol. 36 The samin lessed when seuen of Sauls offspring were deliuered to the Gabaonits. |
2. trans. To make less, lessen, diminish. occas. const. of = by (a certain amount).
| a 1300 E.E. Psalter xi. 2 Lessed ere sothenes fra mennes sones. c 1315 Shoreham 127 Hyre poer nys nouȝt y-lessed. c 1400 tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 55 His dedys shall be defamyd, and his empir lessyd. 1429 in Rymer Foedera (1710) X. 420/2 Nowe that the Poeple of this Land is Lessed and Decressed of late tyme, by Mortalite. c 1450 Merlin 401 Holy cherche was lessed full sore of xxti thousande peple that ther was slain of oon. 1481 Caxton Godfrey 164 They had ben mynysshed moche and lassed in the batayle. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems lxiii. 76 It wald me sumthing satisfie, And less of my malancolie. 1534 More Comf. agst. Trib. i. Wks. 1168/2 Wee..shall..fynd our heartes lighted, and thereby the grief of our tribulacion lessed. 1562 Turner Herbal ii. 4 Polypody drieth and lesseth or thinneth the body. 1633 P. Fletcher Poet. Misc. 77 But silence thou mayst add but never lesse it. |
b. To lower in position or station; to humble, degrade.
| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxxvi. (Baptista) 233 In-to man lessit are we, to god þat we ma grewande be. a 1400 Prymer (1891) 18 Thou hast lassed hym a litel fro angeles. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour L vij, Yf she tooke hym her parentes and frendes shold hold her lassed and hyndered. |
c. pass. To decrease (in respect of).
| ? 1520 Barclay Jugurth 19 But for all this suffrance of Adherball: the mynde of Jugurth was nat more pacified, nor lessed of his cruelte. |