Least in Different Languages
Discover 'Least' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Least
Afrikaans die minste | ||
Albanian më së paku | ||
Amharic ቢያንስ | ||
Arabic الأقل | ||
Armenian նվազագույնը | ||
Assamese সবাতোকৈ কম | ||
Aymara minusa | ||
Azerbaijani ən az | ||
Bambara laban | ||
Basque gutxien | ||
Belarusian мінімум | ||
Bengali কমপক্ষে | ||
Bhojpuri कम से कम | ||
Bosnian najmanje | ||
Bulgarian най-малко | ||
Catalan menys | ||
Cebuano labing gamay | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 最小 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 最小 | ||
Corsican almenu | ||
Croatian najmanje | ||
Czech nejméně | ||
Danish mindst | ||
Dhivehi އެންމެ ކުޑަމިނުން | ||
Dogri घट्ट | ||
Dutch minst | ||
English least | ||
Esperanto malplej | ||
Estonian vähemalt | ||
Ewe suetᴐ kekiake | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) hindi bababa sa | ||
Finnish vähiten | ||
French moins | ||
Frisian minst | ||
Galician menos | ||
Georgian ყველაზე ნაკლებად | ||
German am wenigsten | ||
Greek ελάχιστα | ||
Guarani sa'ive | ||
Gujarati ઓછામાં ઓછું | ||
Haitian Creole omwen | ||
Hausa mafi ƙarancin | ||
Hawaiian mea liʻiliʻi loa | ||
Hebrew הכי פחות | ||
Hindi कम से कम | ||
Hmong tsawg kawg | ||
Hungarian legkevésbé | ||
Icelandic síst | ||
Igbo opekempe | ||
Ilocano kabassitan | ||
Indonesian paling sedikit | ||
Irish ar a laghad | ||
Italian meno | ||
Japanese 少なくとも | ||
Javanese paling ora | ||
Kannada ಕನಿಷ್ಠ | ||
Kazakh ең аз | ||
Khmer យ៉ាងហោចណាស់ | ||
Kinyarwanda byibuze | ||
Konkani कमीत कमी | ||
Korean 가장 작은 | ||
Krio lili | ||
Kurdish kêmtirî | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) کەمترین | ||
Kyrgyz эң аз | ||
Lao ຢ່າງຫນ້ອຍ | ||
Latin minimis | ||
Latvian vismazāk | ||
Lingala moke | ||
Lithuanian mažiausiai | ||
Luganda ekitono ennyo | ||
Luxembourgish mannst | ||
Macedonian најмалку | ||
Maithili सब सं अल्प | ||
Malagasy kely indrindra | ||
Malay paling tidak | ||
Malayalam കുറഞ്ഞത് | ||
Maltese l-inqas | ||
Maori iti rawa | ||
Marathi किमान | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯌꯥꯝꯗ꯭ꯔꯕꯗ | ||
Mizo tlem ber | ||
Mongolian хамгийн бага | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) အနည်းဆုံး | ||
Nepali कम से कम | ||
Norwegian minst | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) osachepera | ||
Odia (Oriya) ସର୍ବନିମ୍ନ | ||
Oromo hunda caalaa xiqqaa | ||
Pashto لږترلږه | ||
Persian کمترین | ||
Polish najmniej | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) menos | ||
Punjabi ਘੱਟੋ ਘੱਟ | ||
Quechua pisi | ||
Romanian cel mai puţin | ||
Russian наименее | ||
Samoan laʻititi | ||
Sanskrit न्यूनतम | ||
Scots Gaelic as lugha | ||
Sepedi gannyanenyane | ||
Serbian најмање | ||
Sesotho bonyane | ||
Shona zvishoma | ||
Sindhi گهٽ ۾ گهٽ | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) අවම | ||
Slovak najmenej | ||
Slovenian vsaj | ||
Somali ugu yaraan | ||
Spanish menos | ||
Sundanese pangleutikna | ||
Swahili angalau | ||
Swedish minst | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) pinakamaliit | ||
Tajik камтарин | ||
Tamil குறைந்தது | ||
Tatar ким дигәндә | ||
Telugu కనీసం | ||
Thai น้อยที่สุด | ||
Tigrinya ዝነኣሰ | ||
Tsonga switsongo | ||
Turkish en az | ||
Turkmen iň bolmanda | ||
Twi (Akan) ketewa | ||
Ukrainian мінімум | ||
Urdu کم سے کم | ||
Uyghur ھېچ بولمىغاندا | ||
Uzbek kamida | ||
Vietnamese ít nhất | ||
Welsh leiaf | ||
Xhosa ubuncinci | ||
Yiddish מינדסטער | ||
Yoruba o kere ju | ||
Zulu okungenani |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The Afrikaans word "die minste" is a cognate of the Dutch word "de minste" and the German word "die minste", and all three words share the same Proto-Germanic root, "minnizōstaz", which means "smallest". |
| Albanian | The word "më së paku" in Albanian literally means "more than less" and is cognate with the Latin "minimum". |
| Amharic | In Amharic, the word ቢያንስ (least) also has the meaning of 'minimum'. |
| Arabic | The word "الأقل" (least) is the superlative form of "قليل" (little or few) and can also mean "less" or "the most inferior." |
| Armenian | This word also means "minimum", "minimal", and "the smallest amount". |
| Azerbaijani | The word "ən az" is a compound word consisting of "ən" (most) and "az" (little), but in modern Azerbaijani it means the opposite of "ən". It is equivalent to "very little" in meaning. |
| Basque | The word "gutxien" in Basque is a compound of "gutxi" (few) and "-en" (the suffix indicating superlative), and can also mean "rare" or "scant". |
| Belarusian | The Belarusian word "мінімум" is derived from the Latin word "minimum" and can also refer to the smallest possible quantity, amount, or value. |
| Bengali | The word "কমপক্ষে" is derived from the Sanskrit word "कल्पाशे" (kalpaashe), which means "at least" or "the smallest amount." |
| Bosnian | "Najmanje" is derived from "manje" (less) and has the connotation of "not even more" or "completely not more". |
| Bulgarian | "Най-малко" also means "at least" when used in the negative form of a statement. |
| Catalan | The word "menys" in Catalan also means "minus". |
| Cebuano | The word "labing gamay" also means "something insignificant" or "something of little value" in Cebuano. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 最小 (zuìxiǎo) is composed of 最 (zuì, most) and 小 (xiǎo, small) and means 'smallest' or 'minimal'. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 最小 shares the same etymology as 惗 or 渺, meaning 'small' and 'insignificant' |
| Corsican | The word "almenu" also means "at least" in Corsican. |
| Croatian | The word 'najmanje' in Croatian is derived from the Proto-Slavic root *naimenjь, which also means 'smallest'. |
| Czech | The word "nejméně" comes from the Old Czech word "nejmenší", meaning "the smallest". It also means "the least". |
| Danish | "Mindst" is cognate with the English word "minus" and shares its etymological roots with "minimum." |
| Dutch | The word "minst" in Dutch is a contraction of "min" (less) and "st" (a superlative suffix), and is cognate with the English word "most". |
| Esperanto | Esperanto's "malplej" ultimately derives from the Latin "minus" via Old French and English, while also bearing a passing resemblance to the English "maple". |
| Estonian | The word "vähemalt" in Estonian is derived from the root "vähe", meaning "little", and the suffix "malt", meaning "at least". |
| Finnish | The word "vähiten" is a superlative of the word "vähä," which means "little." |
| French | "Moins" can also mean "minus" or "less" in French. |
| Frisian | The word "minst" in Frisian is derived from Old Frisian "min" and is related to West Frisian "minsk" and Old English "myne" meaning "small" or "lesser". |
| Galician | In Galician, "menos" can also mean "lesser" or "lower". |
| German | The German word "am wenigsten" is the superlative form of "wenig" (little) and literally means "at the little" or "at the least amount". |
| Greek | The Greek word "ελάχιστα" is used in the plural to mean "the very smallest amount" and is related to the word "ελάσσων", which means "smaller." |
| Haitian Creole | The word "omwen" in Haitian Creole is derived from the French word "au moins," meaning "at least," and can also be used to express "more or less." |
| Hawaiian | The word "mea liʻiliʻi loa" in Hawaiian can also mean "the least amount of something" or "the smallest part of something". |
| Hebrew | The word "הכי פחות" can also be used to mean "very little" or "hardly any." |
| Hindi | The Hindi word "कम से कम" (kam se kam) literally translates to "from less than". |
| Hmong | The noun "tsawg kawg" also means "the youngest child of a family," which is why it's commonly used to refer to the baby of a family or group. |
| Hungarian | Legkevésbé is a compound word made up of the words 'leg' (most) and 'kevésbé' (less), making it mean 'least' in Hungarian. |
| Icelandic | Sist derives from the Old Norse "sistr" meaning "last", "hindmost" or "latest", related to the word "síðan" meaning "since", "later" or "afterwards". |
| Igbo | Opekempe may also mean 'the youngest' or 'the last born' in Igbo. |
| Indonesian | The Indonesian word "paling sedikit" comes from the Dutch phrase "het minste", which also means "the least". |
| Irish | "Ar a laghad" literally translates to "on its low", suggesting a lower limit or extent. |
| Italian | "Meno" also means "minus" in Italian and "less" in Spanish, Portuguese, and Romanian. |
| Japanese | Originally meant 'at least'; also used today as an intensifier ('very') or a tag question ('don't you think?'). |
| Javanese | "Paling ora" is also an expression meaning "nothing more than" or "just" in Javanese. |
| Kannada | The word "ಕನಿಷ್ಠ" also means "at most" or "not beyond" in Kannada. |
| Kazakh | Ең аз is the phonetic spelling of the English word "least" in the Kazakh Cyrillic alphabet |
| Korean | The Korean word "가장 작은" (least) was originally used to describe the smallest unit of length in Korea, the "점" (dot). |
| Kurdish | The Kurdish word "kêmtirî" is derived from the Persian word "kamtar", which means "humble" or "modest". |
| Kyrgyz | The word "эң аз" also means "minimum" or "smallest" in Kyrgyz. |
| Latvian | The Latvian word "vismazāk" also means "the less" in Polish. |
| Lithuanian | The word "mažiausiai" is derived from the Proto-Baltic word *maz-, meaning "small". |
| Luxembourgish | "Mannst" also means "moon", and is the origin of the first name "Manou". |
| Macedonian | The word "најмалку" is derived from the Old Slavic word "наи", meaning "least" or "not at all". |
| Malagasy | The Malagasy word "kely indrindra" can also mean "very small" or "insignificant". |
| Malay | The word "paling tidak" can also mean "at the very least" or "anyway" in certain contexts. |
| Malayalam | The word 'kurainjattu' is also used to mean both 'at least' and 'the most' in Malayalam. |
| Maltese | The Maltese word "l-inqas" derives from the Arabic word "al-aqs," meaning "the most distant" or "the end." |
| Maori | The word "iti rawa" can also mean "very small" or "nearly nothing". |
| Marathi | किमान (kimān) is also a colloquial term used to express a small or insignificant amount of something. |
| Nepali | The word "कम से कम" can also mean "at the lowest" or "at the minimum". |
| Norwegian | The Norwegian word "minst" is closely related to the English "minus" and also shares its mathematical connotation. |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The Nyanja word "osachepera" can also mean "last, final" or "least important". |
| Pashto | In Pashto, “لږترلږه” is the superlative of the comparative degree of an adjective (“کمتر” meaning “less”) and literally means “of the most less”. |
| Persian | The word "کمترین" is also used to mean "humiliated" or "contemptible" in Persian. |
| Polish | The word "najmniej" is derived from the Slavic root "naimanj", meaning "the smallest". |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | "Menos" also means "minus" in mathematics and "fewer" in English. |
| Romanian | The Romanian word "cel mai puţin" has several idiomatic meanings, including "at least" or "as little as." |
| Russian | "Наименее" is the superlative form of the adjective "малый" (small), which is derived from the Proto-Slavic root *malъ (small). |
| Samoan | The word "laʻititi" can also mean "small" or "little" and is related to the word "laʻititi" (small, young). |
| Scots Gaelic | "As lugha" or "as lugha dheth" can also mean "the smallest" in terms of size or quantity. |
| Serbian | }The word 'најмање' can also mean 'at least' in Serbian. |
| Sesotho | "Bonyane" may refer to "the base of something" or "a type of traditional beer" |
| Shona | The word "zvishoma" can also refer to a small amount or a small group of people. |
| Sindhi | The Sindhi word "گھٽ ۾ گهٽ" can also mean "at least" or "bare minimum." |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | The word "අවම" also means "minimum", "lowest" and "least possible" in Sinhala. |
| Slovak | In some constructions, "najmenej" can also mean "at least". |
| Slovenian | The word "vsaj" in Slovenian also means "at least". |
| Somali | The word "ugu yaraan" also means "the most" or "at most" in Somali, a semantic duality not found in English. |
| Spanish | "Menos" is a Spanish word meaning "least," but is derived from the Latin "minus," which can also mean "less" or "minus." |
| Sundanese | The word "pangleutikna" can also mean "the smallest" or "the youngest" in Sundanese. |
| Swahili | Angalau is a combination of the prefix 'an-' (the') and the noun 'galau' (trouble), suggesting the idea of 'the least amount of trouble'. |
| Swedish | The word "minst" in Swedish can also refer to "smallest" or "youngest" in some contexts. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | The word "pinakamaliit" in Tagalog can also mean "most humble" or "most insignificant". |
| Tajik | " камтарин" may also mean "the most" "least" "less" in Tajik. |
| Tamil | குறைந்தது is used to refer to the minimum of a set or the smallest in a particular situation. |
| Telugu | The word "కనీసం" can also mean "base" or "foundation". |
| Thai | The Thai word 'น้อยที่สุด' (least) finds its origin in the Pali and Sanskrit words 'ni + ūna', meaning 'not lacking'. |
| Turkish | The word "en az" in Turkish derives from the Arabic phrase "anna aqs," meaning "the least quantity."} |
| Ukrainian | The word "мінімум" also means "minimum" in English. |
| Urdu | The term "کم سے کم" is used not only as "least" but also as the equivalent of "at minimum" in English. |
| Uzbek | "Kamida" is also used in Uzbek to mean "the most" or "the best" in certain contexts, such as expressing admiration or praise. |
| Vietnamese | In the Sino-Vietnamese system, 'ít nhất' can also mean 'at least', due to the influence of the Chinese word '至少' with the same meaning. |
| Welsh | Lleiaf is closely related to the words 'little' and 'small'. |
| Xhosa | Ubuncinci also means "the little one" in Xhosa. |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word "מינדסטער" can also mean "smallest" or "youngest", and is derived from the German word "mindest". |
| Yoruba | "O kere ju" also means "the one that is left, the one that remains" in Yoruba. |
| Zulu | The Zulu word "okungenani" not only means "least" but also refers to the "little finger or toe" |
| English | The word 'least' derives from an Old English word, 'læst', meaning 'footprint' or 'track'. |