Less in Different Languages
Discover 'Less' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Less
Afrikaans minder | ||
Albanian me pak | ||
Amharic ያነሰ | ||
Arabic أقل | ||
Armenian պակաս | ||
Assamese কম | ||
Aymara juk'a | ||
Azerbaijani az | ||
Bambara dcnni | ||
Basque gutxiago | ||
Belarusian менш | ||
Bengali কম | ||
Bhojpuri कम | ||
Bosnian manje | ||
Bulgarian по-малко | ||
Catalan menys | ||
Cebuano gamay ra | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 减 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 減 | ||
Corsican menu | ||
Croatian manje | ||
Czech méně | ||
Danish mindre | ||
Dhivehi މަދުން | ||
Dogri घट्ट | ||
Dutch minder | ||
English less | ||
Esperanto malpli | ||
Estonian vähem | ||
Ewe do le eme | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) mas kaunti | ||
Finnish vähemmän | ||
French moins | ||
Frisian minder | ||
Galician menos | ||
Georgian ნაკლები | ||
German weniger | ||
Greek πιο λιγο | ||
Guarani mbovy | ||
Gujarati ઓછું | ||
Haitian Creole mwens | ||
Hausa kadan | ||
Hawaiian emi iho | ||
Hebrew פָּחוּת | ||
Hindi कम से | ||
Hmong tsawg dua | ||
Hungarian kevésbé | ||
Icelandic minna | ||
Igbo mpekarị | ||
Ilocano basbassit | ||
Indonesian kurang | ||
Irish níos lú | ||
Italian di meno | ||
Japanese もっと少なく | ||
Javanese kurang | ||
Kannada ಕಡಿಮೆ | ||
Kazakh аздау | ||
Khmer តិច | ||
Kinyarwanda munsi | ||
Konkani कमी | ||
Korean 적게 | ||
Krio nɔ | ||
Kurdish kêmtir | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) کەمتر | ||
Kyrgyz азыраак | ||
Lao ຫນ້ອຍ | ||
Latin minus | ||
Latvian mazāk | ||
Lingala moke | ||
Lithuanian mažiau | ||
Luganda katono | ||
Luxembourgish manner | ||
Macedonian помалку | ||
Maithili कम | ||
Malagasy kely kokoa | ||
Malay kurang | ||
Malayalam കുറവ് | ||
Maltese inqas | ||
Maori iti iho | ||
Marathi कमी | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯌꯥꯝꯗꯕ | ||
Mizo tlemzawk | ||
Mongolian бага | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) နည်းသော | ||
Nepali थोरै | ||
Norwegian mindre | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) zochepa | ||
Odia (Oriya) କମ୍ | ||
Oromo gad bu'aa | ||
Pashto کم | ||
Persian کمتر | ||
Polish mniej | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) menos | ||
Punjabi ਘੱਟ | ||
Quechua pisi | ||
Romanian mai puțin | ||
Russian меньше | ||
Samoan laititi | ||
Sanskrit न्यूनम् | ||
Scots Gaelic nas lugha | ||
Sepedi nnyane | ||
Serbian мање | ||
Sesotho nyane | ||
Shona zvishoma | ||
Sindhi گھٽ | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) අඩු | ||
Slovak menej | ||
Slovenian manj | ||
Somali ka yar | ||
Spanish menos | ||
Sundanese langkung sakedik | ||
Swahili chini | ||
Swedish mindre | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) mas kaunti | ||
Tajik камтар | ||
Tamil குறைவாக | ||
Tatar кимрәк | ||
Telugu తక్కువ | ||
Thai น้อยกว่า | ||
Tigrinya ዝወሓደ | ||
Tsonga switsongo | ||
Turkish az | ||
Turkmen az | ||
Twi (Akan) kumaa | ||
Ukrainian менше | ||
Urdu کم | ||
Uyghur ئاز | ||
Uzbek kamroq | ||
Vietnamese ít hơn | ||
Welsh llai | ||
Xhosa ngaphantsi | ||
Yiddish ווייניקער | ||
Yoruba ti o kere | ||
Zulu ngaphansi |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | In Afrikaans, the word "minder" may also indicate a small child or an assistant to a child. |
| Albanian | The Albanian word "me pak" also means "almost" or "a little bit". |
| Amharic | The word "ያነሰ" can also refer to "small" or "few". |
| Arabic | The word "أقل" can also mean "few" or "little" in Arabic. |
| Armenian | The Armenian word "պակաս" ("less") also has the meaning of "defect" or "imperfection". |
| Azerbaijani | The word "az" in Azerbaijani also means "small" or "little". |
| Basque | "Gutxiago" can mean "few" or "little" depending on the context in which it is used. |
| Belarusian | The Belarusian word “менш” has a homonym meaning “a man”, which originated from German “Mensch”. |
| Bengali | "কম" is also a type of citrus fruit known as a sour orange. |
| Bosnian | The word "manje" can also mean "younger" or "smaller" in Bosnian. |
| Bulgarian | По-малко originated from Old Church Slavonic, where it meant 'small'. |
| Catalan | In Catalan, 'menys' can also mean 'minus' in mathematics or be part of the idiom 'sense menys' ('without hesitation'). |
| Cebuano | The word 'gamay ra' can also be used figuratively to mean 'moderate' or 'average'. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 减 in Chinese (Simplified) can also mean to cancel, reduce, subtract, or decrease. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 减 in Chinese is also a tool used to measure weight, which dates back to the Warring States Period of ancient China (475-221 BC). |
| Corsican | In Corsican, "menu" can also mean "small" or "young". |
| Croatian | Manje has alternate meanings: "a small amount" and "a few". |
| Czech | "Méně" is thought to come from a Proto-Slavic term "menjьjь", possibly related to a Proto-Indo-European root "men-" (small). |
| Danish | The Danish word "mindre" derives from the Old Norse "minnr," also meaning "small" or "inferior." |
| Dutch | Dutch 'minder' is cognate with English 'minor' or 'minority' and thus means both 'smaller' and 'of lesser importance' |
| Esperanto | "Malpli" is a calque from Latin "minus" via Esperanto "mal+" and "pli" (which originally meant "to flow") |
| Estonian | "Vähe" is possibly an altered form of the Proto-Finnic */wæŋe/ ("little, small"), which also gave rise to the Finnish "vähä" and the Sami "væŋŋa" |
| Finnish | Vähemmän is also the comparative of vähä, meaning 'small', so it literally means 'less small' in Finnish. |
| French | In Old French, "Moins" could also mean "minus" or "subtract" similar to modern "moins" in mathematics. |
| Frisian | In Saterland Frisian, "minder" has an additional alternate meaning of "smaller". |
| Galician | The Galician word "menos" also means "except". |
| Georgian | The Georgian word ნაკლები ultimately derives from the Proto-Kartvelian word *kʼu-leʔ, also meaning "less" or "small." |
| German | "Weniger" also means "fewer" in German. |
| Greek | The Greek word "πιο λιγo" (less) derives from the Ancient Greek word "λίγος" (few, small). |
| Gujarati | The word "ઓછું" is cognate with the Sanskrit word "ऋण" and means "debt" or "obligation" in that language. |
| Haitian Creole | "Mwens" is also the imperative form of "diminuer", which means "to decrease" or "to lessen." |
| Hausa | "Kadan" also means "subordinate" or "wife of an emir or other high ranking official". |
| Hawaiian | Less commonly, emi iho may mean 'to come down' or 'to be low' as in elevation. |
| Hebrew | The word "פָּחוּת" can also mean "inferior" or "imperfect". |
| Hindi | The word 'कम से' in Hindi is derived from the Sanskrit word 'कम', which means 'to decrease' or 'to become less'. |
| Hmong | "Tsawg dua" literally means "a little bit" or "some" in Hmong. |
| Hungarian | Kevésbé is also used as an adverb in Hungarian, meaning "not so much" or "to a lesser extent" |
| Icelandic | The Icelandic word "minna" ultimately derives from the Proto-Germanic element "minwiz," meaning "lacking" or "smaller than the expected quantity" |
| Igbo | "Mpekarị" could also imply 'below', 'underneath' or 'at a lower level." |
| Italian | Also an idiom meaning "not to mention" or "what's more" |
| Japanese | The word "もっと少なく" (less) can also mean "very small" in Japanese. |
| Javanese | The Javanese word "kurang" can also mean "lack" or "deficiency". |
| Kannada | The word "ಕಡಿಮೆ" also means "decrease" and "cut down". |
| Kazakh | The word “Аздау” in Kazakh is the opposite of “көп” (meaning “more” or “many”). |
| Khmer | The word "តិច" can also mean "small" or "short" in Khmer. |
| Korean | The Korean term "적게" originally meant "short" and is used in this sense in various expressions. |
| Kurdish | The word "kêmtir" in Kurdish is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *kem- "to cut, shorten, decrease". |
| Kyrgyz | The Kyrgyz word 'азыраак' (less) is derived from the root 'аз' (small) and can also mean 'a little bit'. |
| Lao | The word "ຫນ້ອຍ" in Lao can also mean "small", making it a versatile term used to describe both quantity and size. |
| Latin | In Latin, "minus" also means "small" or "inferior," and derives from the root "mei-", meaning "small or less." |
| Latvian | The word "mazāk" in Latvian also has the alternate meaning of "too little" or "not enough." |
| Lithuanian | Mažiau derives from the Old Lithuanian word "mažas" meaning "little". |
| Luxembourgish | In Luxembourgish, "manner" means "less" but can also mean "but". |
| Macedonian | The word "помалку" can also mean "slowly" or "gradually" in Macedonian. |
| Malagasy | In the Malagasy language, "Kely kokoa" is a phrase that has a more specific meaning than simply "less"; it connotes a reduction of quantity or degree in a deliberate manner, implying a carefully considered adjustment. |
| Malay | Kurang in Malay also means 'lack', 'disadvantage', or 'insufficient'. |
| Malayalam | The word "കുറവ്" (less) in Malayalam also means "deficiency" or "lack". |
| Maltese | The word "inqas" in Maltese is derived from the Arabic word "naqas" meaning "to decrease or diminish". |
| Maori | In Te Reo Maori, the word “iti iho” literally means “small down”, where “iti” means “small” and “iho” means “down”. |
| Marathi | The Marathi word "कमी" ("kami"), which means "less" or "deficiency," also refers to a "shortcoming" or "flaw." |
| Mongolian | The word "бага" can also mean "small" or "young" in Mongolian. |
| Myanmar (Burmese) | The word "နည်းသော" in Myanmar (Burmese) derived from Pali "naya" meaning "rule or law" and has different usage from Modern Tibetan "nye" or "nyid" meaning "self". |
| Nepali | The word "थोरै" likely originates from the Sanskrit word "थोरः" (thoraḥ) meaning "few" or "small". |
| Norwegian | The word "mindre" is derived from the Old Norse word "minnr, |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The word is derived from the Proto-Bantu term *cokipa (to remain). |
| Pashto | The Pashto word "کم" can also mean "small" or "few" in other contexts. |
| Persian | The word "کمتر" can also mean "scarce" or "rare" in Persian. |
| Polish | The word "mniej" can also mean "scarcely" or "seldom" in Polish. |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | In Portuguese, "Menos" can also mean "except" or "minus the exception of". |
| Punjabi | The word "ਘੱਟ" can also mean "diminished" or "inferior". |
| Romanian | "Mai puțin" can also mean "more specifically" or "rather" in the sense of "or rather". |
| Russian | "Меньше" (less) may also mean "lesser" or "younger" in Russian. |
| Samoan | The word "laititi" can also refer to a small amount or quantity. |
| Scots Gaelic | The Scots Gaelic word for "less" is also often used to mean "fewer" as well, which is sometimes confusing for native English speakers as the distinction between the two is made in English. |
| Serbian | "Мање" in Serbian can also mean "faulty" or "imperfect". |
| Sesotho | -Nyane' is also the root for the words '-nyaniso' (to be honest), and '-nyanya-fatshe' (ancestors). |
| Shona | "Zvishoma" is derived from the verb "kushoma", meaning "to reduce" or "to diminish". |
| Sindhi | The Sindhi word "گھٽ" can also mean "small" or "few". |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | "අඩු" is a verb meaning "to reduce" and is related to the noun "අඩ" meaning "half". |
| Slovak | The Slovak word "menej" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *mьnějь, which also meant "smaller" or "younger". |
| Slovenian | The Slovenian word "manj" comes from the Proto-Slavic word "mьnьgь" meaning "small" or "few". |
| Somali | "Ka yar" etymologically means "cut", and can be figuratively used to mean "reduce, diminish, or abate." |
| Spanish | Derived from the Latin word "minus," "menos" also denotes contempt or a lack of importance in Spanish. |
| Sundanese | Langkung sakedik is also used as a comparative form to mean "less than" or "fewer than." |
| Swahili | The word “chini” can also mean 'down' or 'lower' in Swahili. |
| Swedish | Mindre is cognate with the English 'minor' and German 'minder'. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | "Mas kaunti" can also mean "smaller" or "younger" in certain contexts. |
| Tajik | This word may be traced back to the Farsi word کمتر (kamtar). |
| Tamil | குறைவாக can also refer to something being 'low' or 'insufficient'. |
| Telugu | "తక్కువ" is also used to mean "inferior", "deficient" or "insignificant". |
| Thai | In addition to its main meaning of "less," "น้อยกว่า" can also mean "younger" or "more minor" in some contexts. |
| Turkish | The Arabic origin "az" may also mean "insufficient" and "deficient" in Turkish. |
| Ukrainian | "Меньше" is a cognate of the Russian word "меньший" (menshiy), which means "smaller" or "younger". |
| Urdu | The word "کم" can also mean "few" or "deficient". |
| Uzbek | The word "Kamroq" in Uzbek can also mean "modest" or "humble". |
| Vietnamese | The word "ít hơn" can also be used to refer to a small number or quantity of something. |
| Welsh | "Llai" can be confused with "llai" (church) due to their similar pronunciation and spelling. |
| Xhosa | The word "ngaphantsi" in Xhosa is an antonym of the word "feziwe" (more), and is often used to describe the quantity of something that is below average or less than expected. |
| Yiddish | The word "ווייניקער" comes from the Middle High German word "wēnic" meaning "small" or "few". |
| Yoruba | The Yoruba word "Ti o kere" can also mean "inferior" or "younger" depending on the context. |
| Zulu | The Zulu word "Ngaphansi" can also mean "inferior" or "lower" in rank or status. |
| English | 'Less' shares an origin with 'left', which in turn shares an origin with 'light'. |