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单词 least
释义

leastadj.pron.n.adv.

Brit. /liːst/, U.S. /list/
Forms:

α. early Old English læsð (perhaps transmission error), Old English–early Middle English læst, Old English (rare) Middle English–1700s lest, early Middle English læste ( Ormulum), early Middle English 1500s–1600s leaste, early Middle English 1500s– least, Middle English last, Middle English laste, Middle English leeste, Middle English leist (northern), Middle English lift (transmission error), Middle English luste (transmission error), Middle English–1500s leest, Middle English–1500s leste, late Middle English lefte (transmission error), late Middle English list (transmission error), 1800s laist (English regional (Devon)); Scottish pre-1700 leastt, pre-1700 leist, pre-1700 leste, pre-1700 leyst, pre-1700 liest, pre-1700 lyst, pre-1700 1700s–1800s lest, pre-1700 1700s– least, pre-1700 (1800s Shetland) laest, pre-1700 1800s laist.

β. early Old English læssest, Old English læsast, Old English læsæst (Mercian), Old English læsest, Old English leasest (Northumbrian), Old English leassæst (Northumbrian).

γ. late Old English lærest (rare).

Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.
Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian lēst , lērest , lērst < a suffixed form (superlative: see -est suffix) of the same Germanic base as less adj., less adv.Perhaps compare Crimean Gothic lista too little, although it is unclear whether this reflects the same Germanic base. The β. forms are attested in Anglian sources (and sources showing Anglian influence) and in verse. They appear to show failure of syncope of the superlative suffix, but may alternatively show a secondary development, with substitution of an alternative form of the suffix. Forms with -ss- are probably influenced by less adj. The isolated Old English form lǣrest (see γ. forms and quot. lOE at sense A. 1a) and Old Frisian lērest (see above) both reflect Germanic z , with voicing of earlier s either by Verner's Law or by dissimilation before the Germanic base of -est suffix.
The superlative of little adj., pron., n., and adv.
A. adj. and determiner.
1. Opposed to greatest adj. 1 (formerly to most adj. I.).
a. Less than any other in size, extent, or degree; smallest; slightest. Now chiefly with abstract nouns. Frequently in elliptical use.Now usually with the.Sometimes coupled with last: see last adj. 1c.Quot. lOE is a late copy of a Kentish legal code issued c600.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adjective] > smallest or slightest
leasteOE
lessest1542
leastesta1794
the world > relative properties > number > plurality > fewness > [adjective] > fewest
leasteOE
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > smallness > [adjective] > smaller > smallest
leasteOE
eOE Bald's Leechbk. (Royal) (1865) ii. lii. 268 Wece drenc, elene, þone læstan dæl þunges, cammoc, wyl þæt on ealaþ.
OE Byrhtferð Enchiridion (Ashm.) (1995) ii. i. 80 Februarius..ys se læsta [month] and he hæfð twegra daga læs þonne þa oðre.
lOE Laws of Æðelberht (Rochester) lvi. 6 Æt þam lærestan wlitewamme iii scillingas ond æt þam maran vi scillinga.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 15277 Þiss follc iss laȝhesst. & tiss lott. Addleþþ þe læste mede.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 66 & þis is þach þe leste [c1230 Corpus Cambr. leaste] uuel of þe þreo uuele.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 14262 Fiftene he hafde feondliche wunden. mon mihte i þare lasten [c1300 Otho leaste] twa glouen iþraste.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 44 Huanne me..beggeþ be þe gratteste wyȝtes..and zelleþ by þe leste.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Matt. xiii. 32 The kyngdam of heuenes is like to a corn of seneuey... The whiche trewly is leest [a1425 Magdalene Coll. Cambr. the leest] of alle seedis.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1872) IV. 175 (MED) Þe leste talent weyeþ fifty pounde.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 26252 Þe ferth point es noght þe lest.
1508 Golagros & Gawane (Chepman & Myllar) sig. avi Licht as leif of the lynd lest That welteris doun with the wynd sa wauerand it is.
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue i. v. sig. Bii Of two yls, chose the least.
1581 T. Howell His Deuises sig. E.iij Among great thoughts throwne vp, I downe will set the least.
1613 S. Jourdan Plain Descr. Barmudas Ep. Ded. sig. A2 Amongst the sensible signes, and euident demonstrations of Gods all-gouerning prouidence, this is not the least.
1662 J. Davies tr. A. Olearius Voy. & Trav. J. Albert de Mandelslo 103 in Voy. & Trav. Ambassadors The effects of a deep resentment, where of the least are cudgelling or caning.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis xi, in tr. Virgil Wks. 558 Th' Italian Chiefs, and Princes, joyn their Pow'rs: Nor least in Number, nor in Name the last.
1737 S. Berington Mem. G. di Lucca 5 Money, the Idol of other People, was the least of his Care.
1768 L. Sterne Sentimental Journey II. 149 A fix'd star of the least magnitude.
1768 L. Sterne Sentimental Journey I. 174 She begg'd I would try a single pair, which seemed to be the least.
1825 ‘P. Ponder’ Noctes Atticæ 71 A. Gellius..relates the custom of the Greeks and Romans wearing a ring on the left hand, and upon the finger next to the least.
1872 J. Ruskin Eagle's Nest i. 3 The least part of the work of any sound art-teacher must be his talking.
1953 H. G. Smith Arts of Sailor xxii. 190 A deck bucket was the least of my worries.
1992 Locus Aug. 56/3 From large-scale saurian architectural motifs to the least details of door hinges.
2014 New Scientist 7 June 5/4 To create food with the least amount of damage to the environment.
b. Of a person: lowest in power, status, or importance; most insignificant or unimportant. Also: (of a thing) lowest in importance; most insignificant or unimportant. Frequently in elliptical use. Now somewhat archaic.last but not least: see last adv., adj., and n.4 Phrases 2b.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [adjective] > of lowest importance
leasteOE
society > society and the community > social class > the common people > low rank or condition > [adjective]
leasteOE
wokec897
littleOE
lowc1175
eathlyc1200
smallc1275
simplec1300
meana1375
humblec1386
ignoble1447
servile1447
base1490
slighta1500
sober1533
silly1568
unresponsal1579
dunghilled1600
villainous1607
without name1611
woollena1616
dunghilly1616
unresponsible1629
under-stateda1661
low-down1865
eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care (Hatton) (1871) xli. 301 Se ure Aliesend, ðe mara is & mærra eallum gesceaftum, he hine gemedomode to bionne betwiux ðæm læsðum & ðæm gingestum monnum.
OE West Saxon Gospels: Luke (Corpus Cambr.) ix. 47 Witudlice se ðe is læst [L. minor] betwex eow ealle, se is mara.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 370) (1850) 4 Kings xviii. 24 What maner wijse mowen ȝe with stonden beforn oon prince of the lest [L. minimis] seruauntis of my lord?
c1400 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Trin. Cambr. R.3.14) (1960) A. iii. l. 23 (MED) Mede þanne merciede hem alle..Þe leste man of here mayne a mutoun of gold.
c1430 (c1395) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women (Cambr. Gg.4.27) (1879) l. 304 I trowe men schal nat fynde A man that coude be so trowe & kynde As was the leste woman in that tyde.
a1500 (?a1425) tr. Secreta Secret. (Lamb.) 41 Phelip þe lest of his clerks.
1587 Sir P. Sidney & A. Golding tr. P. de Mornay Trewnesse Christian Relig. Pref. sig. **viv The least creatures which lie farre vnderneath man.
1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III v. v. 222 The least of you, shall share his part thereof. View more context for this quotation
1611 Bible (King James) Luke xix. 42 Thou..art not the least among the Princes of Iuda. View more context for this quotation
1611 B. Jonson Catiline v. sig. M2 The least man, that falles vpon our party This day..Shall walke at pleasure, in the tents of rest.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis xi, in tr. Virgil Wks. 558 I, Turnus, not the least of all my Name.
1774 1st Bk. Amer. Chron. of that Time i. p. viii The least of whom were stronger than Sampson, bold men, and as hard as a pine knot.
1847 J. Yeowell Chron. Anc. Brit. Church iv. 173 I Patrick a sinner, the most rustic, and the least of all the faithful.
1864 R. Browning James Lee in Dramatis Personæ 248 Take the least man of all mankind, as I; Look at his head and heart.
1879 E. Dowden Southey 8 His last and least pupil.
1880 St. Louis (Missouri) Globe-Democrat 1 Feb. 3/1 A fair sprinkling of prominent citizens, not the least of whom was the eminent histrionic interpreter of Shakespeare, Barry Mitchel.
1981 L. Peters Select. Poetry 115 When you..Pledged your blood and honour To the least man.
2012 O. Hron Mirage shall become Pool iv. 145 If welcoming even the least follower of Jesus brings such blessing, they may now go with expectant confidence.
c. In the names of plants and animals distinguished by being the smallest of several, or smaller of two, others of the same name. Cf. less adj., adv., pron., n., and prep., lesser adj., adv., and n.See also least bittern n. at Compounds 2.least marshwort, least rupturewort, least water plantain: see the second element.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > appearance of plant > defined by size or stature > [adjective] > of particular size or stature
littleeOE
lessOE
lesser?a1425
dwarf1548
stubby1572
least1597
pumil1776
tall1789
the world > life > biology > taxonomy > taxon > [adjective] > species or sub-species > small in comparison to other species
littleeOE
least1597
1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. 498 The first is a very slender plant hauing a fewe small leaues like the least Chickweede.
1633 T. Johnson Gerard's Herball (new ed.) i. 137 The least mountaine white Narcisse.
1674 J. Blagrave Suppl. to Culpeppers Eng. Physitian 109 The least wild Lemon groweth wild in Syria and Egypt; and heaveth very smal fruit no bigger then Pigeons Eggs.
1722 J. Quincy Lexicon Physico-medicum (ed. 2) 348/1 The least Hare's Ear.
1769 T. Pennant Brit. Zool. (new ed.) III. iv. 160 Lest Hake.
1796 J. Morse Amer. Universal Geogr. (new ed.) I. 209 Least Golden Crown Thrush.
1823 G. Crabb Universal Technol. Dict. at Hare The least Hare, Lepus minimus, which is the size of a rat.
1837 W. Macgillivray Withering's Brit. Plants (ed. 4) 335 Least Bog Orchis.
1886 Bangor (Maine) Daily Whig & Courier 1/6 On the sandy beaches the least tern and piping plover laid their eggs.
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.
1960 M. Burton Wild Animals Brit. Isles 114 The Least weasel..has not so far been found in this country.
1993 Canad. Geographic Mar. 41/1 In the Sand Hills we saw rufous-sided towhees, brown thrashers, least flycatchers and a multitude of other feathered delights.
2006 Independent (Nexis) 9 Dec. (Sat. Mag.) 26 The Home Counties..are also the home of ‘Britain's smallest tree’, the ‘least willow’, all of half an inch high.
2. Chiefly (and now only) with the. Used for emphasis, esp. in negative and hypothetical contexts. Any, however small or slight.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adjective] > any, however small
eacheOE
anyOE
leastOE
ever anyOE
smallc1330
a blind1938
OE St. Mary of Egypt (Julius) (2002) 106 Eall þæt gear geornlice þa gesihðe forsweogode, læstra þinga geðrystlæcende aht secgan [L. minime audens quidpiam dicere] þæs ðe he geseah.
a1325 (c1280) Southern Passion (Pepys 2344) (1927) l. 1669 (MED) Wiþ þe lest drope of þi blod, þou miȝttest vs haue ybouȝt.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xviii. xlii. 1193 Þey [sc. elephantes] dreden nouȝt þe scharpnesse of werre, and dredeþ and fleeþ þe voice of þe leste sowe.
c1400 Bk. to Mother (Bodl.) 92 (MED) Þei schulden not folewe þe leste fleschli lust of þe world aȝenus Godis wil to bringe forþ as mony children as ben sterres in heuene.
?c1430 (c1400) J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 143 (MED) Þouȝ he conne not þe leste poynt of þe gospel.
a1450 (a1396) W. Hilton Eight Chapters on Perfection 7 (MED) Sette þanne al þi studie and þi bisynes for to make redy a place..to þi Lord Iesu Crist..þat þe leest hour of þi tyme be not forȝete.
a1500 tr. Thomas à Kempis De Imitatione Christi (Trin. Dublin) (1893) 66 But allas! for good incommutable, for mede inestimable, for souerayn worship, for endeles glory, men wol not suffre þe lest werynes.
1549 T. Chaloner tr. Erasmus Praise of Folie sig. Oii The dome..of the heighest, and most rightfull kyng of all, hangeth ouer his head, who soone after will call hym to accoumpte for the least faulte he hath doen.
1583 B. Melbancke Philotimus (new ed.) sig. Ee3 Thy tongue should be a pickelocke to open the least part of her euil dealings.
1632 R. Brome Northern Lasse i. vii. sig. C4v One from whom You never had, or can expect least good.
1664 H. Power Exper. Philos. Pref. sig. A3 Dioptrical Glasses..are but a Modern Invention: Antiquity gives us not the least hint thereof.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iii. 120 Without least impulse or shadow of Fate. View more context for this quotation
1699 W. Dampier Voy. & Descr. ii. i. 38 Beef..without the least sign of Fat in it.
1762 Gentleman's Mag. Dec. 615/1 The least aperative [= aperient] undoes all immediately.
1834 T. Medwin Angler in Wales I. 262 The least noise often scares away..the slinking sly game of the forest.
1851 Official Descriptive & Illustr. Catal. Great Exhib. II. 330 Fire-escape..intended to be always ready..without the least preparation.
1882 R. Jefferies Bevis III. iii. 50 ‘Any chance of our being taken off and rescued?’ ‘Not the least.’
1937 Discovery May 137/2 They have the same power..of doing conjuring tricks with their tails, and seem to shed them at the least pretext.
2016 Daily Tel. 23 Dec. 21/4 I wander about the campus wearing a yarmulke and have never felt the least bit unwelcome or uncomfortable.
3. With a plural noun, and usually with the. The smallest number of; the fewest. Compare less adj. 3. Opposed to most adj. II. rare before 19th cent.
ΚΠ
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) l. 860 & best me mai to hom truste þat of lest wordes [a1450 London Univ. leste of wordys] beþ.
?a1603 E. Grymeston Miscelanea (1604) sig. A3v As it is the best coine that is of greatest value in fewest pieces, so is it not the worst booke that hath most matter in least words.
1673 W. Temple Observ. United Provinces vi. 187 Since the ground of Trade cannot be deduced from Havens, or Native Commodities (as may well be concluded from the survey of Holland, which has the least and the worst; and of Ireland, which has the most and the best, of both).
1798 Sporting Mag. Mar. 318/2 He that makes the least tricks wins the cards, which is the reverse of most other games.
1863 Seventh Ann. Rep. Vermont Board Educ. 87 The elderly portion of the tax payers have the least children at school.
1886 Northwestern Miller 24 Sept. 327/1 (advt.) Which machine has the least complications liable to get out of order.
1945 A. A. Ostrow Compl. Card Player 628 The player who takes the least points in counting cards scores 10 points.
1993 Compute Oct. 26/2 Returning a stack of windows with the most matches through the least matches.
2000 Time 7 Feb. 62/2 An amateur with the least skills who gets the job with the most exposure.
4. Existing in the smallest quantity or amount; the smallest quantity or amount of. Opposed to most adj. III., greatest adj. 1a(c).Now usually with the.In uses with abstract nouns which may be taken as count or mass (e.g. the least doubt, the least probability), often difficult to distinguish from sense A. 1a.
ΚΠ
1489 W. Caxton tr. C. de Pisan Bk. Fayttes of Armes i. xvii. sig. Di Wher the watre is lest and most low.
1526 Grete Herball cclxxix. sig. Qv/2 It nouryssheth leest of ony grayne yt brede is made of and bredeth leest blode and ye blode that it bredeth is nought.
1576 A. Fleming tr. Cicero in Panoplie Epist. 35 To reckon your owne state among things of least estimation.
1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies iv. v. 218 They cal that poore which yields least silver,..and that riche which yields most silver.
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan i. vi. 27 For Calamity arriving [sic] from great wickedness, the best men have the least Pitty.
1725 Visct. Bolingbroke Let. 24 July in J. Swift Lett. (1766) II. 281 Those, who had the least mind to see me in England, have made it impossible for me to live any where else.
1775 J. Priestley Exper. & Observ. Air (ed. 2) I. 226 Silver requiring the least water, and iron the most.
1820 J. F. L. Williams Hist. Acct. Inventions & Discov. II. 271 Those who engaged to take the best care of them for the least money.
1884 Harper's Mag. Apr. 797/1 The intermittent downward filtration through an underdrained porous soil requires the least land.
1922 Playground Sept. 288/1 Two teams of mine employees..started on a rabbit hunt. The team bringing back the least game had to turn cooks.
1991 R. Mistry Such Long Journey (1992) 25 Malcolm revealed that the neck portion..was the tenderest, with the least fat.
2011 Daily Tel. 27 July 22/5 Forcing me to search for summer cosmetics that..take up the least space.
†5. With an agent noun. Of a person: that carries out an action to the least degree. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > customary or habitual mode of behaviour > unaccustomedness or state of disuse > [adjective] > not used or accustomed > little used or accustomed
leasta1586
ill-accustomed1671
the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > [adjective] > inexperienced > very little experienced
youngesteOE
leasta1586
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Apol. Poetrie (1595) sig. G4v Of all Writers vnder the sunne, the Poet is the least lier.
a1591 H. Smith Serm. (1593) 900 We would be iudged the least sinners.
1643 R. Baker Chron. Kings of Eng. iv. 53 The English..were hitherto the least Drinkers.
1648 J. Cooke Unum Necessarium 30 The greatest drinkers are the least eaters.
1727 S. Switzer Pract. Kitchen Gardiner ii. vii. 58 All which is obvious to the least practitioners in this art.
1775 Gen. Election: Lett. between Friends I. xxiii. 235 These big talkers, as my brother observes, are generally the least doers.
1832 Fraser's Mag. 6 604 Genius depends wholly on the circumstances of life. Byron is the least exemplificator of this.
B. pron. and n.
I. Pronoun uses, as a superlative corresponding to little pron. and n. I.
1. The smallest quantity or amount. Also: †the least part of something (obsolete).In quots. eOE1, eOE2 with partitive genitive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] > least quantity or amount
leasteOE
leastest1862
the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > [noun] > a small part or proportion > the least part
least1597
eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care (Hatton) (1871) Pref. 9 Hi his sume ðorfton, ða ðe Lædenspræce læste cuðon [sc. among the bishops].
eOE Bald's Leechbk. (Royal) (1865) ii. xxxii. 234 Menge togædere & weax, ealra emfela, weaxes þeah læst.
a1225 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Lamb.) l. 353 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 181 Þe þe lest haued haueð so muchel þat he ne bit no more.
1597 F. Bacon Of Coulers Good & Euill f. 28 in Ess. [They] haue no other shift but to beare it out wel, and to make the least of it.
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream v. i. 105 Loue, therefore, and tong-tide simplicity, In least, speake most, to my capacity. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) ii. vii. 68 That is the least (Lucetta) of my feare. View more context for this quotation
1685 J. Nalson tr. L. Maimbourg Hist. Crusades iv. ii. 373 They who see the least are the most confident in pronouncing their decisive opinion.
?1710 J. Hutchinson Obs. by J. H. 64 In Countries that have had the least of the Surface borne off the lower Strata are thicker than the upper.
1761 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy IV. xxix. 67 Mrs. Shandy, of all People, has the least to do with it.
1866 A. J. Scott Discourses 167 Has he found, that those things which his mind could agonise about..were the things that required the least of a struggle, in order to their possession?
1885 Harper's New Monthly Mag. Oct. 791/1 The very least I can do is to take myself off.
1902 A. Conan Doyle Great Boer War (rev. ed.) xxxii. 327 The classes of the community which had least to lose and least to offer.
2011 Guardian 11 June (Weekend Suppl.) 35/1 People..who would rather eat wherever they can pay the least, ordering little and failing to tip.
II. Noun uses, as a superlative corresponding to little pron. and n. III.
2. With the. (In Old English with determiner.) The lowliest, lowest-ranking, or least significant person or (occasionally) people.most and least: see most pron. and n. 3b.
ΚΠ
OE Rule St. Benet (Corpus Cambr.) xxxi. 55 Sy gemyndig þære godcundan clypunge, hwæt se geearnige, þe geæbylið enne þara læstena [L. unum de pusillis; a1225 Winteney þære læstene], þe on God behycgað.
lOE tr. R. d'Escures Sermo in Festis Sancte Marie Virginis in R. D.-N. Warner Early Eng. Homilies (1917) 137 Eall þæt þæt ge dyden anen minre læsten, þæt ge dyden me sylfen.
a1350 in G. L. Brook Harley Lyrics (1968) 46 (MED) Whil ich wes..yholde wiþ þe heste; nou y may no fynger folde..yleued wiþ þe leste.
a1450 ( G. Chaucer Bk. Duchess (Tanner 346) (1871) l. 283 Nomore þan koude þe lest of vs.
a1500 (?c1425) Speculum Sacerdotale (1936) 185 (MED) I am the leste of you alle that Crist haþ lokyd to as to an abortyfe.
1591 (?a1425) Last Judgement (Huntington) in R. M. Lumiansky & D. Mill Chester Myst. Cycle (1974) I. 461 When you sawe the leaste of myne..with your rychesse you would not ryne [1607 Harl. 2124 them ryne].
1692 W. Robinson Compassionate Invitation 19 Though one of the least, whom God has reached to, yet by his Grace I am a Believer.
a1722 J. Lauder Jrnls. (1900) 96 Men and women from the least to the greatest..have manchon muffes.
c1884 E. Dickinson in Poems (1955) III. 1120 Bugles call the least of us To undepicted Realms.
1991 G. Eisman tr. S. Ousmane Niiwam & Taaw 105 You'll be cursed forever, you'll be the least among those of your age.
2008 South Bend (Indiana) Tribune (Nexis) 2 Oct. b4 If he truly wants protection for the least among us and fair treatment for all.
3. Chiefly Philosophy. Something that is least; an extremely minute quantity or part; a minimum.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] > a small quantity or amount > the smallest amount
tokenworth1631
a nail (also nail's) breadth1637
least1656
styme1776
1656 T. Stanley Hist. Philos. II. v. 15 There being in nature no least which cannot be divided.
1682 T. Creech tr. Lucretius De natura rerum i. 23 They all affirm, that Nature never rests In breaking Bodies, and admits no Leasts.
1740 T. Simpson Nature & Laws Chance 31 If there be no least, to one of the least equal ones.
1766 T. Amory Life John Buncle II. x. 343 By impregnating the most generous white wine, with the minims or lests of antimony.
1813 T. Busby tr. Lucretius Nature of Things i. 658 These particles themselves no parts contain, And hence are Nature's Leasts, or finest grain.
1954 Brit. Jrnl. Philos. Sci. 5 19 Paradoxes raised of the world have always led..to a Democritean multiplicity; that is, to one in which the stuff of the world is a set of atoms—of indivisibles—leasts—which go batting about in the void.
1983 J. E. McGuire & M. Tammy Certain Philos. Questions i. i. 80 Newton entertains the supposition that the leasts of time, distance and motion can be considered as having first and last elements that are compatible with their individual natures.
C. adv.
In the least degree; in a degree less than all others, or than on all other occasions.
a. Modifying a verb, a prepositional phrase, or the whole predicate. Frequently with verbs expressing expectation.least of all: see all adj., pron., n., adv., and conj. Phrases 3b.
ΚΠ
OE Maxims I 158 Licgende beam læsest groweð.
a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 35 (MED) Heo us truket þenne we lest weneð.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xiv. ii. 690 It semeþ þat hiȝnes [of þe wisdom] of God sheweþ leste in the bodye of erþe.
a1500 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Trin. Dublin) l. 2546 He was fallen in a feuer or he lest wende.
?1518 A. Barclay Fyfte Eglog sig. C Her name was wanton besse Who leest with her delt, he thryued not the lesse.
1592 W. Wyrley Capitall de Buz in True Vse Armorie 143 Oftenest times when least we do mistrust.
1614 W. Raleigh Hist. World i. iv. i. §1. 157 It commonly falleth out with euery man of marke..that they..perish, by the hands and harmes, which they least feare.
a1677 J. Taylor Contempl. State Man (1684) i. vii. 80 Death steals..upon us, when we least look for it.
1732 G. Berkeley Alciphron I. iii. vi. 170 Alciphron has made discoveries where I least expected it.
1739 J. Wesley Let. 30 Apr. (1931) I. 302 To enter into no disputes, least of all concerning Predestination.
1788 D. Gilson Serm. Pract. Subj. ix. 283 There is too much reason..for complaint, that the true friends of the church are coldest to, and care least for, their teacher.
1833 H. Martineau French Wines & Politics v. 75 When the time came for giving up his watch or his rat, he thought he could least spare his live companion.
1879 W. D. Howells in Atlantic Monthly Jan. 38/2 You can't bear to think that people are not the least in earnest, even when they least seem so.
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.
1962 P. Bracken I hate to housekeep Bk. xi. 123 The pockets have been masterfully placed to widen a girl where she least wants to be widened.
2005 Times (Nexis) 11 May (Times2 section) 4 Love, they say, comes along when you're least expecting it.
b. Modifying an adjective or adverb.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adverb] > least
worsteOE
leasta1250
the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adverb] > in the least degree
leasta1250
a1250 Wohunge ure Lauerd in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 271 (MED) Hwuch of ham swa is lest laðeliche and grureful..al þe world were offeard him ane to bihalde.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 36 (MED) Þe oþre beggeþ þe þinges huanne hi byeþ lest worþ.
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 299 Leest wurthy, eximius.
1526 Bible (Tyndale) 1 Cor. xii. 23 Those members of the body which we thynke lest honest.
1567 T. Drant in tr. Horace Arte of Poetrie To Rdr. sig. *vj He that is least acquainted wyth suche trashe, and pelfe wyll better perceaue suche thinges whych be sauerye and sappye.
1609 W. Shakespeare Sonnets xxix. sig. C3 With what I most inioy contented least . View more context for this quotation
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost i. 679 Mammon, the least erected Spirit that fell From heav'n. View more context for this quotation
c1720 N. Dubois & G. Leoni tr. A. Palladio Architecture III. x. 21 That part of the river where the stream is least rapid.
1751 F. Geminiani Art of Playing on Violin Ex. IB. 2 The best Performers are least sparing of their Bow; and make Use of the whole of it.
1805 D. Turner & L. W. Dillwyn Botanist's Guide Eng. & Wales I. p. xv It has been suggested that the Botanist's Guide, by pointing out the Stations of plants, may possibly lead to the extirpation of some which are least common.
1878 A. M. M. Stedman Oxf.: Social & Intellect. Life 245 It is said that Tacitus is generally the least carefully studied of all the authors.
1950 Times 20 Feb. 7/7 When steel was most scarce, the distribution scheme worked least well.
1966 Virginia Q. Rev. 42 294 It is the saints, the disinterested men who achieve indifference to the sensate world, who are least likely to be fanatics.
2012 New Yorker 17 Sept. 14/3 The least visible and therefore the most intriguing.

Phrases

P1. Uses of the noun following prepositions, forming adverbial phrases.
a. at least (also at the least (now less common), † atte leste).
(a) Modifying a designation of quantity or extent, indicating that the amount is the smallest admissible or is otherwise a minimum, e.g. at least two, at least once, at least double.at alderleast: see alderleast adv. at alder- prefix 1c.
ΚΠ
OE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Tiber. B.iv) anno 1049 Swegen eac sende of Denmarcon, & bæd Eadward cyng scypfultumes, þæt sceolde beon æt læstan l scypa.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 254 Of alle þulliche þing schriue hire euche wike eanes edþe leste [c1230 Corpus Cambr. ed te leaste, a1250 Titus at te leaste, a1250 Nero ette leste, a1300 Caius at þe leste].
c1300 St. Edmund Rich (Harl.) l. 46 in C. D'Evelyn & A. J. Mill S. Eng. Legendary (1956) 494 Þis children..werede here here þrie a wyke oþer tueye atte leste.
c1392 Equatorie of Planetis 22 (MED) This litel cercle shal be perced..in 360 holes yif it be possible, or in 180, or in 90 atte leste.
c1480 (a1400) St. Nicholas 219 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 487 Þane askit he þame to sel vitale, a hundre medreiis at þe lest of ilke schipe.
1549 Forme & Maner consecratyng Archebishoppes sig. A.ijv .xxi. yeres of age at the least.
?1566–7 G. Buchanan Opinion Reformation Univ. St. Andros in Vernacular Writings (1892) 8 The nombre of the classis at the leist sex.
1611 Bible (King James) Luke xix. 42. If thou hadst knowen, euen thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong vnto thy peace!
1663 B. Gerbier Counsel to Builders 53 There are at the least in twenty thousand, five thousand unfit for work.
1712 Steele Spectator No. 498. ⁋3 As had disabled him from being a coachman for that day at least.
1765 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. I. i. ix. 347 Every cartway must be made eight feet wide at the least.
1771 L. Carter Diary 12 Aug. (1965) II. 611 I..ordered the feet or stoppers of the plows to be at least 4 inches broad and mould boards about 6 inches long.
1838 U.S. Mag. & Democratic Rev. 1 52 The Democratic party was determined to explore at least that portion of the plan of their opponents which involved a present non-committalism on the question of a National Bank.
1844 Act 7 & 8 Victoria c. 84 Sched. (F) The Breast of every Chimney..must be at the least Four Inches in Thickness of sound Bricks.
1885 Act 48 & 49 Victoria c. 60 §4 A session of the Council shall be held once at least in every two years.
1901 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) B. 194 61 The field of view must at the very least embrace considerably more than double this latter angle.
1943 A. E. van Vogt in Astounding Sci.-Fiction Oct. 19/1 I admit it is an appallingly sharp curve, but I feel that we should have at least that much leeway.
2013 M. Lawson Deaths ii. 57 Emily and Tom..earn at least double what the two of us do.
(b) In wider use, characterizing a statement as certainly valid, even if one of a more comprehensive kind is not allowable: at any rate, at all events.
ΚΠ
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 127 Hereð nu resuns. hwi me ach fleo þe world achte. ed þeleste.
c1300 (?c1225) King Horn (Laud) (1901) l. 499 (MED) Ich þe wolde rede ate lest Þat þou horn knict makedest.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 6774 And if i lent þe suilkin beist, þat ded be or spilt at leist..þou sal it quit wit iuiement.
1526 Bible (Tyndale) John xiv. f. cxlijv Att the leest beleve me for the very workes sake.
1576 A. Fleming Panoplie Epist. 355 (margin) Man being indued with reason (or at least ought to bee), knowledge and understanding.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) v. v. 50 At least wee'l dye with Harnesse on our backe. View more context for this quotation
1639 J. Woodall Treat. Plague in Surgeons Mate (rev. ed.) 360 Be carefull to provide them Wastcoates, Sleeves, or, at the least, the legges of old Hose.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost i. 258 Here at least We shall be free. View more context for this quotation
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 105. ¶7 The Book-Pedant is much the most supportable; he has at least an exercised Understanding.
1738 A. Pope 6th Epist. 1st Bk. Horace Imitated 13 Adopt him Son, or Cozen at the least.
1772 W. Buchan Domest. Med. (ed. 2) x. 147 Love is perhaps the strongest of all the passions; at least, when it becomes violent, it is less subject to..controul.
1801 M. Edgeworth Forester in Moral Tales I. 22 I hope..you'll at least tell me, that you do not really suspect me.
1834 J. H. Newman Parochial Serm. (1837) I. iii. 44 Have you not power at least over the limbs of your body?
1873 Saturday Rev. 19 July 69/2 With a Government deserted..by friends and foes, nothing is too wild to gain the honours of an unexpected victory, or at the least of a narrow defeat.
1946 ‘J. Tey’ Miss Pym Disposes v. 49 If you had to have a face like a scone it was at least comforting that it was a smooth scone.
1994 H. Bloom Western Canon iii. xv. 367 That should teach us, at the least, to stop terming Peer Gynt a moral weakling.
2014 New Scientist 4 Jan. 3/2 Giving up alcohol for January? For many people, in the UK at least, it has become a ritual in recent years.
†b. by the least: at least. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > small of quantity, amount, or degree [phrase] > at least
by the leastc1300
at (the) leastwise?c1425
at leastways?1529
with the least?1552
good1577
at least handa1586
c1300 (?c1225) King Horn (Cambr.) (1901) l. 616 He sloȝ þer on haste On hundred bi þe laste [c1300 Laud at þe leste].
a1333 in C. Brown Relig. Lyrics 14th Cent. (1924) 15 (MED) He made vulle wyth shyr water six cannes by þe leste.
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid xii. xiii. 29 Desist heirof, now at last, be the lest.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy (2002) f. 117 The flode was so felle with fallyng of rayn Hit was like by the lest as our lord wold With water haue wastid all þe world efte.
1648 M. Prideaux & J. Prideaux Easy & Compend. Introd. Hist. 28 Uzziah... Had by the least 300700 Souldiers.
c. in the least.
(a) In the smallest or slightest degree. Frequently in not in the least.
ΚΠ
1598 F. Meres tr. Luis de Granada Sinners Guyde ii. xxi. 516 We doe and speake all things with that warines, that we doe not stray in the least [Sp. en ninguna cosa] from the tract and path of vertue.
a1616 W. Shakespeare King Lear (1623) ii. ii. 314 I cannot thinke my Sister in the least Would faile her Obligation.
1662 E. Stillingfleet Origines Sacræ iii. iii. §4 And is it possible..to imagine that the Scriptures do in the least ascribe the Origine of evill to God?
?1699 Dialogue Two Members East-India Companies (single sheet) (verso) To expect their Rights to be preserved, and not in the least to be Infringed upon.
a1719 J. Addison Dialogues Medals in Wks. (1721) I. ii. 461 I have been surprized to meet with a man in a Satire that I never in the least expected to find there.
1787 W. Beckford Portuguese Jrnl. 15 June (1954) 83 I pretended not to have been in the least tired.
1851 J. Ruskin Stones of Venice I. xx. 218 No sculptor can in the least imitate the peculiar character of accidental fracture.
1868 Stephen's New Comm. Laws Eng. (ed. 6) II. iv. i. vi. 531 So as to restrain or diminish in the least any of his rights or interests.
1882 Cent. Mag. July 448/1 ‘No, it isn't’, he returned, promptly. ‘Not in the least.’
1915 V. Woolf Voy. Out iv. 60 One enormous question, which she did not in the least know how to put into words.
1944 Living off Land: Man. Bushcraft iii. 61 Where the ground appears to be in the least unsafe, it should always be timbered.
2015 E. Wood My Secret Rockstar Boyfriend 246 It doesn't seem to be worrying him or anyone else in the least.
†(b) At the lowest estimate. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > small of quantity, amount, or degree [phrase] > in the least or the slightest degree
the leastc1400
any whit1526
one whit1526
(not) a wink1596
in the least1608
in the smallesta1616
in the leastwise1676
tint1886
society > trade and finance > monetary value > price > low price or rate > [adverb] > at lowest
in the least1608
1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear i. 181 What in the least will you require in present Dower with her. View more context for this quotation
†d. with the least.
(a) Among the smallest or shortest. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1881) i. l. 281 She nas not with the leste of here stature.
(b) At least; not by any means all. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > small of quantity, amount, or degree [phrase] > at least
by the leastc1300
at (the) leastwise?c1425
at leastways?1529
with the least?1552
good1577
at least handa1586
?1552 Certayne Causes Decaye Eng. sig. B.ii It leseth ye kinges maiestye..v. thousande markes by the yeare with the lest.
a1640 J. Fletcher & P. Massinger Prophetesse iii. i. in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) 33/2 Get. How does your daughter? 4 Suit. Better your Worship thinks of her. Get. This is with the least.
(c) to speak with the least: to say the least. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1565 A. Nowell Reproufe f. 117v Emongest whom if you finde one protestante, I can for hym finde one score of papistes (to speake with the least).
1693 R. Bynns Serm. 23 And when we are well enough (to speak with the least) we should be very sure of an Advantage, before we venture upon a Change.
1706 W. Beveridge Serm. preach'd before Lords Spiritual & Temporal 30 Jan. 31 We..who live..where the foresaid means of Grace are as..powerfully Administred, to speak with the least, as in any place.
e. with least or most: at all, in any way. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > degree or relative amount of a quality, action, etc. > degree or relative amount [phrase] > in any degree or at all
anything like1529
with least or most1575
with least or most1575
for any sake1824
1575 W. Stevenson Gammer Gurtons Nedle v. ii. sig. Eiiiv Bayly. Canst yu 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.
P2. the least (as adverb).
a. In even the smallest or slightest degree; in the least.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > small of quantity, amount, or degree [phrase] > in the least or the slightest degree
the leastc1400
any whit1526
one whit1526
(not) a wink1596
in the least1608
in the smallesta1616
in the leastwise1676
tint1886
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xviii. l. 282 (MED) I leue þat lawe nil nauȝte lete hym þe leest.
1648 Mercurius Psitacus No. 7. sig. A4v Let those Pulpit-cuffers..know that the L. Capell..&c, have pawned their Estates to the Townsmen, that they shall not be the least endammaged by this their necessitated fire.
1772 N. D. Falck Treat. Venereal Dis. i. i. 5 It is now sufficiently proved..that potency and vigour is not the least impaired by the possession of one [testicle] only.
1840 F. Marryat Poor Jack vi. 34 He wasn't the least groggy.
1881 J. A. Froude Short Stud. (1883) IV. 351 I am not the least pretending that this has been the actual history of man in this planet.
1935 H. C. Bryson Gramophone Record vi. 147 The central hole has to be made perfectly true, for were it the least eccentric with the grooves, the records produced from it would be swingers.
2004 H. Kennedy Just Law (2005) viii. 177 She said she did this to get away unharmed; the defence said it showed she was at the time not the least traumatised or in fear.
b. To the smallest degree or extent; less than all others.
ΚΠ
1579 G. Fenton tr. F. Guicciardini Hist. Guicciardin v. 297 A great quantitie of corne, which they could not transport, either for the impediments that they of Rome gaue..or rather by the secret persuasion of the Pope, which was not the least credible [Fr. comme plusieurs le creurent].
1662 J. Davies tr. A. Olearius Voy. & Trav. J. Albert de Mandelslo 101 in Voy. & Trav. Ambassadors Drunkenness is a Vice they can the least of any be charged withal.
1702 J. Dennis Danger of Priestcraft to Relig. & Govt. 11 The most violent ought the least to be tolerated, because they are the most repugnant to Charity.
1810 R. Heber Let. 25 Dec. in Heber Lett. (1950) vii. 237 The part of your scheme which I like the least is making the library a partaker of your festivities.
1992 Amer. Scholar Autumn 578/1 The dogma of original sin is the one I care for the least.
†P3. In emphatic collocations of sense A. 2.
a. any (also one, any one) the least: even the very least, any at all. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1882) iii. l. 1310 Of here delyt, or Ioyes oon þe leste Were impossible to my wyt to seye.
1537 Inst. Christen Man f. 5v Neyther any man in the worlde, nor the dyuell hym selfe, coulde euer fynde in hym suspycion of any the leaste crime or offence that myght be deuysed.
1586 E. Hoby tr. M. Coignet Polit. Disc. Trueth xxxvi. 165 Without any one the least woorde that mought be offensiue to chast eares.
a1591 H. Smith Gods Arrowe (1593) v. sig. Q3 One that breaketh any the least constitution of the Pope.
1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. viii. iii. 391/2 They dare not..to giue way or conniuence to any the least iniustice.
1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII ii. iv. 150 Whether euer I..spake one, the least word that might Be to the preiudice of her present State. View more context for this quotation
1697 in W. S. Perry Hist. Coll. Amer. Colonial Church: Virginia (1870) I. 14 Without receiving any the least assistance from those Guns.
1738 Common Sense II. 204 Under solemn Ingagement never to have any the least correspondence with me.
1824 J. Bentham & P. Bingham Bk. Fallacies Introd. 4 Scarce in any instance will be discovered any the least danger of final deception.
1873 R. Browning Red Cotton Night-cap Country i. 27 You must be generous, strain point, and call Victory, any the least flush of pink Made prize of.
b. every the least: even the very least, every single. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
?1568 J. Old tr. T. de Bèze in Conf. Fayth sig. Dijv The doctrine of Saluation conteyned in Gods woorde, must be mainteyned safe & sounde, not onely in the whole substance but in euery the least and smalest parte therof without addition or diminution [L. sed..in singulis vel minutissimis partibus].
1656 Earl of Monmouth tr. T. Boccalini Ragguagli di Parnasso i. ii. 5 Every the least Trump, did take all the best Coat-Cards.
1763 Museum Rusticum (1764) 1 109 Every the least appearance of a weed or root of grass is diligently picked off.
1825 S. T. Coleridge Aids Refl. 359 That every the least permissible form and ordinance, which at different times it might be expedient for the Church to enact, are pre-enacted in the New Testament.
1841 Second Ann. Rep. Cambridge Board Educ. 10 Every the least streamlet of charity within my reach being then exhausted.
c. no least: not even the least, not the slightest. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1572 Treat. Treasons against Q. Elizabeth i. 14v The whole world beareth witnesse with her, that no least signe nor token hath she geuen of any such intention.
1632 F. Quarles Divine Fancies ii. xiii Hee..Whose milk-white Vellam did incurre No least suspition of a Blurre.
1673 R. Allestree Ladies Calling ii. ii. §3 Therefore they must be nicely careful to give their husbands no color, no least umbrage for it [sc. jealousy].
1713 E. Young Poem on Last Day iii. 62 What, no Reprieve, no least Indulgence giv'n.
1762 J. Duncan Ess. on Happiness i. 31 No least deformity, no lightest trace Of imperfection.
P4.
a. to say the least (of it): (as a comment on a preceding or following clause) saying only what is most certain about the matter, let alone other likely considerations.
ΚΠ
1568 T. Harding Detection Sundrie Foule Errours To Rdr. sig. ******iij The taking of aduantage is vndue and ouer captious, or by some sleight of M. Iewel falsified and corrupted, or, to saie the least, by vntrue construction wrested to a sense by the Authour neuer intended.
1598 H. Jacob Treat. Sufferings & Victory Christ 76 This reason will seeme altogeather vnreasonable, and harshe in the eares of some, to say the least of it.
1637 G. Gillespie Dispute against Eng.-Popish Ceremonies iii. i. 3 Carnall worship therefore, and Ceremoniall observations are (to say the least) superfluous in Religion, and by consequence superstitious.
1689 H. Newcome Divine Goodness 19 Let Swearing be left out of your common Conversation, where, to say the least, it is Impertinent.
1750 S. Richardson Familiar Lett. xciv. 133 His Character is not equal, in any respect, to say the least..to that of your late good Spouse.
1791 H. Macleod Casus Principis xiv. 169 The two Royal Dukes were created by the King in Parliament; which, to say the least of it, was the mode of conferring nobility most honourable to those promoted.
1809 Deb. Congr. U.S. 20 Feb. (1853) 422 To say the least of it, the people will perceive..an uncommon coincidence.
1850 J. McCosh Method Divine Govt. (ed. 2) ii. ii. 203 We hold the moral law to be as much, to say the least of it, the appointment of God as any natural law.
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.
2012 Independent 7 Sept. 31/1 The clinical benefits of the treatment are contentious, to say the least.
b. least said, soonest mended: see mend v. 2.
P5.
†a. at least hand: at least. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > small of quantity, amount, or degree [phrase] > at least
by the leastc1300
at (the) leastwise?c1425
at leastways?1529
with the least?1552
good1577
at least handa1586
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1593) iii. sig. Ff6 Thy musique well assures me wee are at least-hand fellowe prentises to one vngracious master.
b. at (the) least way: see leastway n. at (the) least ways: see leastways n. at (the) least wise: see leastwise n.
P6. not least: in particular, notably.
ΚΠ
1734 Gentleman's Mag. Jan. 47 The Resolutions of the British Parliament..are of too great Moment not to be carefully attended to, and impatiently expected, by all, and not least by those, who will hope to take advantage from your Determinations.
1807 T. Dampier Charge Clergy Diocese of Rochester 23 The sufferings which during a long succession of ages it experienced all over Europe, and not least in this Kingdom.
1869 Spectator 9 Oct. 1186/2 Knowing what Europeans—and not least, Englishmen—are apt to be in such circumstances, in China and elsewhere.
1907 Westm. Gaz. 28 Aug. 2/3 Largely owing to American usage, and not least that of Wall Street.
1986 ARTnews Dec. 54/3 Jackowski is a promising painter, through, not least because he has the serious intention of composing.
2015 J. Warren Nature of Crops viii. 141 This ‘vulcanized’ rubber..could have hundreds of applications, not least the pneumatic tyre.
P7. law (also principle) of least action (Physics): the principle that the trajectory of a mechanical system between two points in time is always such that it minimizes or (in later use) maximizes the action (action n. 12a) of the system; also in extended use.The significance of the principle is that it enables the equations of motion of such a system to be obtained. [In principle of least action after French principe de la moindre quantité d'action, lit. ‘principle of the least amount of action’ (P. L. Moreau de Maupertuis 1748, in Hist. de l'Acad. R. des Sci. et des Belles Lettres de Berlin 1746, 286).]
ΚΠ
1752 Gentleman's Mag. Aug. 372/2 There is all the reason in the world to allow that in this principle of the least action is involv'd the most general law of nature.
1814 J. Toplis tr. P. S. de Laplace Treat. Analyt. 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 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 124 252 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.
1960 W. V. Quine Word & Object i. 19 The deliberate scientist goes on in essentially the same way..and a law of least action remains prominent among his guiding principles.
1997 D. Park Fire within Eye vi. 184 The inventors of the science of mechanics sought and found principles of economy that govern the ball and other motions; they are generally called principles of least action (still suggesting some kind of economy), and all the great dynamical principles of modern physics are expressed in this way.
2006 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 19 Oct. 53/1 The principle of least action says that nature arranges all processes so as to minimize a quantity called action, which is a measure of the effort required to bring the processes to completion.
P8.
method (also principle) of least squares n. a method of finding an equation that best fits some experimental or observed data, in which the sum of the squares of the differences between the data and the corresponding values of the equation are minimized. [In method of least squares n. after French méthode des moindres carrés ( A.-M. Legendre Nouvelles Méthodes pour la Détermination des Orbites des Comètes (1805) 74).]
ΚΠ
1819 Philos. Mag. 53 435 The only use to which two or three results thus obtained by one observer can be legitimately applied, is to make them parts of a series obtained by different persons in different places, and reduce the whole to computation by the ‘method of least squares’.
1964 Math. Mag. 37 150 Let us apply the principle of least squares..to the consistent linear system.
2012 J. Stewart Single Variable Calculus (ed. 7) II. vi. 395 We use a graphing calculator with exponential regression capability to apply the method of least squares.

Compounds

C1. Uses of the adverb preceding adjectives to form adjectival phrases used attributively in compounds.
least best adj. last in order of preference out of a group or set of options which are all considered to be good or desirable; (used ironically) worst.
ΚΠ
1846 New Englander (New Haven, Connecticut) July 367/1 We..belong to the old New England race.., who revere our ancestors for all noble qualities, among the which, as not the least best, was their war spirit.
1862 Derby Mercury 27 Aug. 5/2 The company is strong in clowns, not the least best feature in equestrian performances.
1927 A. Kreymbourg Funnybone Alley viii. 101 The same way with her friends in the alley. There was no best, second best, least best with her.
1999 P. Levinson Digital McLuhan ii. 25 Precisely because McLuhan had such little inclination to explain, he was in many ways the least best person..to elucidate his method.
2011 West Australian (Perth) (Nexis) 21 Feb. 7 The only attempt at modernity was a sabzi salad..and it was the least best dish we had.
least significant adj. Computing designating the digit having the smallest value in a given number, typically occupying the rightmost position when written or displayed; (also) designating the bit or byte having the smallest value in a binary number.
ΚΠ
1950 Math. Gaz. 34 244 It is most convenient in a serial machine to have the numbers represented with the least significant digit leading.
1981 Computer Dec. 113/1 The integer has the conventional 8080 representation, with the least significant byte stored at the lowest address in the memory.
2015 P. Franco Understanding Bitcoin v. 67 (footnote) The algorithm proceeds from the most significant bit to the least significant bit.
least worst adj. first in order of preference out of a group or set of options which are all considered to be bad or undesirable; (used ironically) best.
ΚΠ
1750 T. Gordon Cordial Low-spirits 62 Omnium feminarum maritus, & omnium viroum [sic] uxor [= the husband of all women and the wife of all men], is the least worst Character that can be given him [sc. Cæsar].
1804 A. Murray Bruce's Trav. Source Nile (ed. 2) II. 75 The Galla who border on Amhara are much the worst of all the Galla, and the least worst are the..Guangoul Galla.
1859 Brit. Q. Rev. July 244 Those States are in the least worst condition who have contrived the most to escape from her [sc. Austria's] influence.
1916 Amer. Fruits July 12/2 The mountaineer when he was asked, where is the best hotel: ‘Stranger, there aint no best I reckon, but the least worst is over yonder.’
1984 Daily Tel. 24 Apr. 11/1 The opinion..that BBC-2 is ‘the least worst channel we've got’.
2010 Fairbanks (Alaska) Daily News-Miner 12 Sept. f3/3 A race between those two is no race at all; voters would merely be left to pick their least worst option.
C2. Compounds of the adjective.
least bittern n. a small bittern native to temperate and tropical regions of the Americas, Ixobrychus exilis, having light brown plumage with darker streaks, white underparts, and (in the male) black patches on the crown and back.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > order Ciconiiformes (storks, etc.) > [noun] > family Ardeidae (herons and bitterns) > genus Ixobrychus (little bittern)
little bitternc1330
water hen1678
least bitterna1813
spurwing1842
a1813 A. Wilson Amer. Ornithol. (1814) VIII. 37 Least Bittern: Ardea exilis..is the smallest known species of the whole tribe.
1975 N.Y. Times Mag. 26 Jan. 10/1 Least bitterns, angular as the reeds, freeze with heads straight up.
2015 L. Barth Birds, Art & Design 60 I received a call from..the bird banding station..to let me know they had just captured a Least Bittern, Ixobrychus exilis.
least common multiple n. the smallest quantity that can be divided by each of two (or more) given whole numbers; abbreviated L.C.M.Also called lowest common multiple.The least common multiple of two numbers a and b is found by dividing their product by their greatest common divisor.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > arithmetic or algebraic operations > [noun] > division > divisor or dividend > without remainder
partc1300
quotea1464
divisor1557
aliquot part1570
greatest common measure1570
measure1570
multiplex1570
aliquot1610
multiple1685
submultiple1702
least common multiple1714
bipartient1819
least squares1847
1714 S. Cunn New Treat. Fractions i. 17 What is the least common Multiple of 18 and 49?
1823 J. Mitchell Dict. Math. & Physical Sci. (at cited word) To find the least common Multiple of several Numbers.
2009 L. N. Childs Concrete Introd. Higher Algebra iv. 61 The least common multiple of a and b divides every common multiple of a and b.
least-cost adj. cheapest.
ΚΠ
1924 H. R. Trolley et al. Input as Related to Output in Farm Organization (U.S. Dept. Agric. Bull. No. 1277) 32 With milk at $2.10 per 100 pounds, the greatest profit combination would evidently be the same as the least-cost combination.
1989 V. R. Godwin in M. G. Field Success & Crisis in National Health Syst. ix. 277 The general managers have very little information about least-cost strategies..for generating improvements in health status.
2009 National Post (Canada) (Nexis) 2 Mar. a11 The owner should probably close the gym and refund what he can... It's probably his least-cost strategy.
least finger n. (in the human hand) the small finger furthest from the thumb; = little finger n. 1.
ΚΠ
OE tr. Pseudo-Apuleius Herbarium (Vitell.) (1984) iii. 42 Wiþ heafdes sare genim fifleafan ða wyrt; bewrit þriwa mid þam læstan fingre & mid þam ðuman.
OE Byrhtferð Enchiridion (Ashm.) (1995) iii. ii. 140 Læt gan þæt getæl, swa we nu cwædon, þæt þu cume to þæs læstan fingres nægle.
c1300 St. Michael (Laud) l. 326 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 309 With..is leste finguer, he bi-guynneth heom furst to tolle.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 370) (1850) 2 Chron. x. 10 My lest fynger is gretter than the reynes of my fadir.
c1450 J. Metham Palmistry (Garrett) in Wks. (1916) 92 (MED) Yf yt [sc. a streak] procede to the lest fyngyr, yt betokynnyth ryches in the laste age.
?1567 Def. Priestes Mariages (new ed.) 199 Our holy hypocrites.., that lay heauie burthens vpon other mens backes, & will not ease the burthen with the least finger of their handes.
1619 T. Milles tr. P. Mexia et al. Αρχαιο-πλουτος 690/2 [Rings] are..so subiect and light, that they may be worne on the least finger of the hand.
1785 in tr. C. Linnaeus Syst. Veg. I. Index p. xl The space between the points of the thumb and least finger when extended.
1858 Young Men's Mag. Sept. 216 The left hand is generally considered the ring hand—and the least finger of that hand holds the ring.
1916 Clinics J. B. Murphy, M.D., Chicago 5 291 The two tendons of the index, that of the middle, that of the ring, and the two tendons of the least finger.
2002 N. Tosches In Hand of Dante 248 The hand of the Creator, clenched save for index finger and least finger, which were extended outright.
least square adj. Mathematics obtained by or involving the method of least squares (see square n. 8b).
ΚΠ
1857 Mem. Amer. Acad. Arts & Sci. 6 181 The first differential coefficient of Ω relatively to either of these factors, in the case of the least-square solution, must have the value for each factor, dΩ/ dα = 0.
1916 L. D. Weld Theory of Errors & Least Squares v. 87 If more [observations] are made, least-square reduction may be applied to their adjustment.
2015 P. R. Nicolas Scala for Machine Learning vi. 207 There are many more regression models, starting with the ubiquitous ordinary least square linear regression.
least squares n. Mathematics the method of least squares (see square n. 8b); frequently attributive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > arithmetic or algebraic operations > [noun] > division > divisor or dividend > without remainder
partc1300
quotea1464
divisor1557
aliquot part1570
greatest common measure1570
measure1570
multiplex1570
aliquot1610
multiple1685
submultiple1702
least common multiple1714
bipartient1819
least squares1847
1847 Astronomische Nachrichten No. 599. 379 The solution by least squares.
1921 Biometrika 13 297 The fit by least squares to the means of the arrays is precisely the same as the fit by least squares to the whole swarm of points.
2014 Publ. Astron. Soc. Pacific 126 588/1 One can therefore identify an unknown tip-tilt..by direct projection on the basis of modes, or using a least squares algorithm.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2018; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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