▪ I. least, a., (n.), and adv.
(liːst)
Forms: 1 lǽst, lǽsast, lǽsest, Northumb. léasest, léassæst, lǽssest, 3 læst, 2–5 leste, 3–4 last, 3–6 leist, 3–7 (rarely 8) lest, 4–5 leeste, 4–6 leest, 3, 6– least.
[OE. lǽst, lǽsest:—prehist. *laisisto-, superlative f. *laisiz- less; cf. OFris. leist. An OE. lǽrest = OFris. lêrest:—*laizisto-, occurs in one instance.]
Used as the superlative of little.
A. adj.
I. In concord with n. expressed or understood.
1. a. Little beyond all others in size or degree; smallest; slightest; † fewest.
Not infrequently coupled with last: see last a. 1 c.
| a 1000 Guthlac 741 Nis þæt huru læsast þæt seo lufu cyþeð. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 268 Þone læstan dæl þunges. c 1200 Ormin 15277 Þiss follc iss laȝhesst, & tiss lott Addleþþ þe læste mede. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 860 And best me mai to hom truste, þat of lest wordes [MS. δ leste of wordys] beþ. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. vii. 39 Men of lawe lest pardoun hadde þat pleteden for Mede. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 294 Þe veyne þat is bitwixe þe leeste too of his foot. c 1470 Golagros & Gaw. 289 Lich as leif of the lynd lest, That welteris doun with the wynd, sa wauerand it is. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 35 To reckon your owne state among things of least estimation. 1697 Dryden æneid xi. 664 Th' Italian Chiefs, and Princes, joyn their Pow'rs: Nor least in Number, nor in Name the last. 1725 Bolingbroke 24 July in Swift's Lett. (1767) II. 210 Those, who had the least mind to see me in England, have made it impossible for me to live any where else. 1768 Sterne Sent. Journ. (1775) 128 (Act of Charity) A fix'd star of the least magnitude. 1778 Pennant Tour in Wales I. 2 [Flint] is the lest of the twelve Welch [Counties]. 1879 Dowden Southey 8 His last and least pupil. |
| ellipt. c 1205 Lay. 28560 Fiftene he hafde feondliche wunden mon mihte i þare lasten [c 1275 leaste] twa glouen iþraste. a 1300 Cursor M. 16947 Ogains leist of his to drei. Ibid. 26252 Þe ferth point es noght þe lest. 1340 Ayenb. 44 Huanne me..beggeþ be þe gratteste wyȝtes..and zelleþ by þe leste. c 1369 Chaucer Dethe Blaunche 283 No more than coude the leste of vs. 1662 J. Davies tr. Mandelslo's Trav. 103 The effects of a deep resentment, where of the least are cudgelling or caning. 1768 Sterne Sent. Journ. (1775) 63 (Gloves) She begg'd I would try a single pair, which seemed to be the least. |
b. the least: often used, esp. in negative and hypothetical contexts, for ‘Any, however small’. † More emphatically, any or one the least. † Formerly occas. with omission of the article; also in no least = ‘not the least’.
| c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 143 Þouȝ he conne not þe leste poynt of þe gospel. 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, ii. iv. 153 Whether euer I..spake one, the least word that might Be to the preiudice of her present State. 1632 Brome North. Lasse i. vii. Wks. 1873 III. 19 One from whom You never had, or can expect least good. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 73 Without least shew of remorse or pietie. 1659 Hammond On Ps. lxxxix. 7 There is no least comparison between all the power and operations of all those. 1664 H. Power Exp. Philos. Pref. a iij, Dioptrical Glasses..are but a Modern Invention: Antiquity gives us not the least hint thereof. 1667 Milton P.L. iii. 120 Without least impulse or shadow of Fate. 1687 G. Towerson Baptism 269 Without any the least hint of their being baptiz'd. 1697 in W. S. Perry Hist. Coll. Amer. Col. Ch. I. 14 Without receiving any the least assistance from those Guns. 1699 W. Dampier Voy. II. ii. 38 Beef..without the least sign of Fat in it. 1762 Gentl. Mag. 615 The least aperative [= aperient] undoes all immediately. 1763 Mus. Rusticum Oct. xxii. I. 109 Every the least appearance of a weed or root of grass is diligently picked off. 1824 Bentham Bk. Fallacies Wks. 1843 II. 380 Scarce in any instance will be discovered any the least danger of final deception. 1834 T. Medwin Angler in Wales I. 262 Tiger is not like pheasant-shooting..and the least noise often scares away..game of the forest. 1851 Illustr. Catal. Gt. Exhib. 330 Fire-escape..intended to be always ready..without the least preparation. |
c. In the names of certain animal and vegetable species or varieties, distinguished by their smallness from others bearing the same name. (Cf. less, lesser.)
| 1633 Gerarde's Herbal i. lxxxvi. 137 The Least Mountain White Narcissus. 1719 Quincy Lex. Physico-Med. (ed. 2) 346 The least Hare's-Ear. 1766 Pennant Brit. Zool. (1776) III. 171 Lest Hake. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. I. 209 Least Golden Crown Thrush. 1823 Crabb Technol. Dict. s.v. Hare, The least Hare, Lepus minimus, which is the size of a rat. 1831 A. Wilson & Bonaparte Amer. Ornith. III. 53 The least bittern is also found in Jamaica. 1837 Macgillivray Withering's Brit. Plants (ed. 4) 335 Least Bog Orchis. Ibid. 366 Least Willow. 1870 Amer. Naturalist III. 234 The least Tern,..and the Roseate Tern, still breed on our coast. 1915 A. R. Horwood Story Plant Life Brit. Isles III. i. 105 Hooker recognises three divisions [of Gamopetalæ]: Chironieæ, including Yellow Wort, Least Yellow Gentian, [etc.]. 1946 T. M. Stanwell-Fletcher Driftwood Valley 42 Sometimes he and the least chipmunks..play hide-and-seek round boxes and trees. 1955 E. B. Ford Moths xi. 166 This [sc. the Burren] is also the Irish locality for the Least Minor. 1960 M. Burton Wild Animals of Brit. Isles 114 The Least weasel..has not so far been found in this country. 1975 Country Life 16 Jan. 131/1 Least tern nesting area. |
d. least common multiple, least squares, least constraint, least resistance: see the ns.
e. law (or principle) of least action (Physics): the principle that an actual trajectory of a physical system is always such that, in comparison with any slightly different motion between the same end-points, the integral over the trajectory of the momentum with respect to distance (or more generally, of the sum of the generalized momenta with respect to generalized co-ordinates) has a minimum (or a maximum) value.
| [1748 Moreau de Maupertuis in Hist. de l'Acad. R. des Sci. 1744 423 Le chemin qu'elle [sc. la lumière] tient est celui par lequel la quantité d'action est le moindre... La quantité d'action..est proportionnelle à la somme des espaces multipliez chacun par la vitesse avec laquelle le corps les parcourt. 1748 ― in Hist. de l'Acad. R. des Sci. et des Belles Lettres de Berlin 1746 286 J'ai découvert le principe universel, sur lequel toutes ces loix sont fondées... C'est le principe de la moindre quantité d'action.] 1814 J. Toplis tr. Laplace's Treat. Analytical Mech. ii. 47 Maupertuis..asserted, that in all the changes which take place in the situation of a body, the product of the mass of the body by its velocity and the space which it has passed over is a minimum. This he called the principle of the least action, and it was applied by him to the discovery of the laws of the refraction and the reflection of light,..the laws of equilibrium, &c. 1834 W. R. Hamilton in Phil. Trans. R. Soc. CXXIV. 252 Although Lagrange and others, in treating of the motion of a system, have shown that the variation of this definite integral vanishes when the extreme coordinates and the constant H are given, they appear to have deduced from this result only the well known law of least action. 1920 A. S. Eddington Space, Time & Gravitation ix. 149 The law of gravitation, the laws of mechanics, and the laws of the electromagnetic field have all been summed up in a single Principle of Least Action. For the most part this unification was accomplished before the advent of the relativity theory, and it is only the addition of gravitation to the scheme which is novel. 1966 J. L. Meriam Dynamics viii. 349 Hamilton's principle and the principle of least action have found important but limited applications in engineering problems. Their use will undoubtedly grow with time as the complexity and generality of design situations increase. 1973 Nature 28 Sept. 223/1 The mechanics section begins with Hamilton's principle (here called the principle of least action) and gives a concise and elegant account of the relation between invariance and conservation laws. |
2. Lowest in power or position; meanest. (arch.) † With agent-noun: Having very little practice or scope. Also ellipt.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. v. 19 Lytel vel leasest [Ags. Gosp. læst] he bið ᵹenemned in ric heafna. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. iii. 25 [She] ȝaf..The leste man of here mayne a mutoun of gold. c 1400 tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 41 Phelip þe lest of his clerks. 1567 Gude & Godlie Ball. (S.T.S.) 44 Bot quha is maist, sall serue the leist. 1580 Sidney Ps. xxv. x, I am poore and least of all. 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, v. iii. 268 The least of you shall share his part thereof. 1611 Bible Matt. ii. 6 Thou..art not the least among the Princes of Iuda. 1697 Dryden æneid xi. 677, I, Turnus, not the least of all my Name. 1727 S. Switzer Pract. Gardiner ii. vii. 58 All which is obvious to the least practitioners in this art. |
† 3. Phr. a. at the least way(s, wise: see leastways, leastwise. b. at least hand: at least. Obs.
| a 1586 Sidney Arcadia iii, My musicke well assures me we are (at least hand) fellow prentises to one vngratious master. |
II. Absolute uses (quasi-n.).
4. That which is least; the least quantity or amount; † the least part of something. Phrase, to say the least (of it).
| a 1200 Moral Ode 112 Þe ðe lest wat biseið ofte mest. Ibid. 353 Þe þe lest haued haueð so muchel þat he bit no more. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. v. i. 105 Loue therefore, and tongue-tide simplicity, In least, speake most, to my capacity. 1591 ― Two Gent. ii. vii. 68 That is the least (Lucetta) of my feare. 1597 Bacon Coulers Gd. & Evill (Arb.) 150 [They] haue no other shift but to bear it out wel, and to make the least of it. 1809 Deb. Congress U.S. 20 Feb. (1853) 422 To say the least of it, the people will perceive..an uncommon coincidence. 1811 Ibid. 17 Jan. 603 To say the least of such a measure, is to term it an experiment. 1850 M{supc}Cosh Div. Govt. ii. ii. (1874) 197 We hold the moral law to be as much, to say the least of it, the appointment of God as any natural law. a 1902 Mod. The very least I can do is to apologize for the mistake. 1928 R. Campbell Wayzgoose i. 26 Muses Nine, Those strapping girls whose love, to say the least, Would make a rabid Mormon of a priest. 1974 D. Scannell Mother knew Best vi. 59 Mother said vanity was a besetting sin which Amy resented, to say the least of it. |
| Proverb. 1773 Gouv. Morris in Sparks Life & Writ. (1832) II. 289 Our Secretary of State reminds me of a maxim of his predecessor that least said is soonest mended. 1835 Marryat Pirate v, The least said the soonest mended. |
5. Governed by a prep., forming an advb. phrase. a. at least, at the least (also ME. atte leste, Ormin att allre læste). A qualifying phrase, attached to a quantitative designation to indicate that the amount is the smallest admissible. Hence, in wider use, characterizing a statement as certainly valid, even if one of a more comprehensive kind be not allowable; = ‘at any rate’, ‘at all events’.
| 11.. O.E. Chron. an. 1049 (MS. D.) Sweᵹen..bæd Eadward cyng scypfultumes {thbar} sceolde beon æt læstan .L. scypa. c 1200 Ormin 937 Þatt he ȝuw illke Sunenndaȝȝ Att allre læste lære. a 1225 Ancr. R. 164 Ihereð nu reisuns hwui me ouh for to fleon þene world; eihte reisuns et te leste. a 1300 Cursor M. 6774 And if i lent þe suilkin beist, þat ded be or spilt at leist..þou sal it quit wit iuiement. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxvi. (Nycholas) 219 Þane askit he þame to sel vitale A hundre medreiis at þe lest of ilke schipe. c 1386 Chaucer Man of Law's Prol. 38 Thanne haue ye do youre deuoir atte leeste. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xix. 86 Þase ymages er ilk ane of þe stature of twa men at þe leste. 1526 Tindale John xiv. 11 Att the leest beleve me for the very workes sake. 1552 Bk. Com. Prayer, Pref. to Ordering Deacons, .xxi. yeres of age at the least. 1563–7 Buchanan Reform. St. Andros Wks. (1892) 8 The nombre of the classis at the leist sex. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 355 note, Man being indued with reason (or at least ought to bee), knowledge and understanding. 1605 Shakes. Macb. v. v. 52 At least wee'l dye with Harnesse on our backe. 1611 Bible Luke xix. 42. 1662 J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 93 At lest I can say this, I never met with any who were glad when they were beaten. 1663 Gerbier Counsel 53 There are at the least in twenty thousand, five thousand unfit for work. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 258 Here at least We shall be free. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 105. ¶7 The Book-Pedant is much the most supportable; he has at least an exercised Understanding. 1712 Steele Ibid. No. 498 ¶3 As had disabled him from being a coachman for that day at least. 1802 M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. iii. 17, I hope..you'll at least tell me, that you do not really suspect me. 1834 J. H. Newman Par. Serm. (1837) I. iii. 44 Have you not power at least over the limbs of your body? 1847–9 Helps Friends in C. Ser. i. (1857) I. 123 At least it does not contain the whole matter. 1885 Act 48 & 49 Vict. c. 60 §4 A session of the Council shall be held once at least in every two years. |
† b. by the least. At least.
| a 1300 K. Horn 616 He sloȝ þer on haste On hundred bi þe laste [Geste Kyng Horn 612 at the leste]. c 1400 Destr. Troy 7623 The flode was so felle, with fallyng of Rayn, Hit was like, by the lest, as oure lorde wold With water haue wastid all þe world efte. 1513 Douglas æneis xii. xiii. 29 Desist heirof, now at last, be the lest. |
c. in the least. † (a) At the lowest estimate (obs.). (b) In the smallest or slightest degree.
| 1605 Shakes. Lear i. i. 194 What in the least Will you require in present Dower with her. 1660 Wood Life 29 Nov., He never suffered in the least for his cause. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. iii. iii. §4 And is it possible..to imagine that the Scriptures do in the least ascribe the Origine of evill to God? 1702 Addison Dial. Medals ii. Wks. 1721 I. 461, I have been surprized to meet with a man in a Satire that I never in the least expected to find there. 1845 Stephen Comm. Laws Eng. (1874) II. 497 So as to restrain or diminish in the least any of his rights or interests. 1851 Ruskin Stones Ven. (1874) I. xx. 218 No sculptor can in the least imitate the peculiar character of accidental fracture. |
† d. with the least. (a) Inferior. (b) = At least. Also, to speak with the least: to say the least. (c) with least or most: at all, in any way. Obs.
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus i. 281 She nas not with the leste of here stature. 1550–3 Decaye of England (E.E.T.S.) 100 It lesth the kings Maiesty...v. thousande markes by the yeare with the lest [printed left]. 1575 Gamm. Gurton v. ii. 247 Bayly. Canst thou not say any-thing to that, Diccon, with least or most? Diccon. Yea, mary, sir, thus much I can say: wel, the nedle is lost! c 1680 Beveridge Serm. (1729) II. 586 We..who live..where the..means of grace are as..powerfully administer'd, to speak with the least, as in any place. |
† 6. as n. A most minute quantity or part; a minimum. Obs.
| 1656 Stanley Hist. Philos. v. (1701) 161/2 There being in Nature no least which cannot be divided. 1682 Creech Lucretius i. 23 They all affirm, that Nature never rests In breaking Bodies, and admits no Leasts. 1683 Ibid. Notes 17 Epicurus made all his Atoms to be leasts, and therefore insensible. 1766 T. Amory Buncle (1770) IV. 94 By impregnating the most generous white wine, with the minims or leasts of antimony. 1813 Busby Lucretius i. 658 These particles themselves no parts contain, And hence are Nature's Leasts, or finest grain. |
B. adv. a. In the least degree; in a degree less than all others, or than on all other occasions.
| c 1200 Trin. Hom. 75 Þanne þu lest wenst deað cumeþ to fecchende þe. a 1300 Cursor M. 27201 In lauerd house..þar man agh lest do dishonur. a 1400–50 Alexander 2546 He was fallen in a feuer or he lest wende. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 299/1 Leest wurthy, eximius. 1526 Tindale 1 Cor. xii. 23 Those members of the body which we thynke lest honest. c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. xxix, With what I most inioy Contented least. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 679 Mammon, the least erected Spirit that fell From Heav'n. 1732 Berkeley Alciph. iii. §6 Alciphron has made discoveries where I least expected it. 1833 H. Martineau Fr. Wines & Pol. v. 75 When the time came for giving up his watch or his rat, he thought he could least spare his live companion. 1883 R. W. Dixon Mano ii. i. 65 And when lord Gerbert questioned privily, Of me he got but little: least of all Upon that noble knight would I be spy. |
b. the least: in the least degree.
| 1662 J. Davies tr. Mandelslo's Trav. 101 Drunkenness is a Vice they can the least of any be charged withal. 1840 Marryat Poor Jack vi, He wasn't the least groggy. 1881 Froude Short Studies (1883) IV. 351, I am not the least pretending that this has been the actual history of man in this planet. |
▪ II. least(e, leastall
obs. ff. lest, laystall.