Little in Different Languages
Discover 'Little' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Little
Afrikaans min | ||
Albanian pak | ||
Amharic ትንሽ | ||
Arabic قليل | ||
Armenian քիչ | ||
Assamese অলপ | ||
Aymara jisk'a | ||
Azerbaijani az | ||
Bambara misɛn | ||
Basque gutxi | ||
Belarusian мала | ||
Bengali সামান্য | ||
Bhojpuri छोट | ||
Bosnian malo | ||
Bulgarian малко | ||
Catalan poc | ||
Cebuano gamay | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 小 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 小 | ||
Corsican pocu | ||
Croatian malo | ||
Czech málo | ||
Danish lille | ||
Dhivehi ކުޑަ | ||
Dogri लौहका | ||
Dutch weinig | ||
English little | ||
Esperanto malmulte | ||
Estonian vähe | ||
Ewe sue | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) maliit | ||
Finnish vähän | ||
French peu | ||
Frisian lyts | ||
Galician pouco | ||
Georgian პატარა | ||
German wenig | ||
Greek λίγο | ||
Guarani michĩ | ||
Gujarati થોડું | ||
Haitian Creole ti kras | ||
Hausa kadan | ||
Hawaiian liʻiliʻi | ||
Hebrew קטן | ||
Hindi थोड़ा | ||
Hmong tsawg | ||
Hungarian kis | ||
Icelandic lítið | ||
Igbo obere | ||
Ilocano bassit | ||
Indonesian sedikit | ||
Irish beag | ||
Italian piccolo | ||
Japanese 少し | ||
Javanese sithik | ||
Kannada ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ | ||
Kazakh кішкентай | ||
Khmer តិចតួច | ||
Kinyarwanda bike | ||
Konkani ल्हान | ||
Korean 작은 | ||
Krio smɔl | ||
Kurdish kêm | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) کەم | ||
Kyrgyz кичинекей | ||
Lao ນ້ອຍ | ||
Latin paulo | ||
Latvian maz | ||
Lingala moke | ||
Lithuanian mažai | ||
Luganda -tono | ||
Luxembourgish wéineg | ||
Macedonian малку | ||
Maithili कम | ||
Malagasy little | ||
Malay sedikit | ||
Malayalam അല്പം | ||
Maltese ftit | ||
Maori iti | ||
Marathi थोडे | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯈꯔꯥ | ||
Mizo te | ||
Mongolian бага | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) နည်းနည်း | ||
Nepali सानो | ||
Norwegian litt | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) pang'ono | ||
Odia (Oriya) ଅଳ୍ପ | ||
Oromo xiqqoo | ||
Pashto لږ | ||
Persian مقدار کمی | ||
Polish mało | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) pouco | ||
Punjabi ਥੋੜਾ | ||
Quechua uchuy | ||
Romanian puțin | ||
Russian маленький | ||
Samoan laʻititi | ||
Sanskrit किञ्चित् एव | ||
Scots Gaelic beag | ||
Sepedi nnyane | ||
Serbian мало | ||
Sesotho hanyane | ||
Shona zvishoma | ||
Sindhi ٿورڙو | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) කුඩා | ||
Slovak málo | ||
Slovenian malo | ||
Somali yar | ||
Spanish pequeño | ||
Sundanese saeutik | ||
Swahili kidogo | ||
Swedish liten | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) kaunti | ||
Tajik каме | ||
Tamil கொஞ்சம் | ||
Tatar аз | ||
Telugu కొద్దిగా | ||
Thai เล็กน้อย | ||
Tigrinya ንእሽተይ | ||
Tsonga switsongo | ||
Turkish küçük | ||
Turkmen az | ||
Twi (Akan) kakra | ||
Ukrainian мало | ||
Urdu تھوڑا | ||
Uyghur ئازراق | ||
Uzbek oz | ||
Vietnamese ít | ||
Welsh ychydig | ||
Xhosa encinci | ||
Yiddish ביסל | ||
Yoruba diẹ | ||
Zulu okuncane |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | "Min" in Afrikaans, meaning "little," is also used idiomatically to denote a small amount or an insignificant person. |
| Albanian | Pak can also mean "short" in Albanian. |
| Amharic | The word 'ትንሽ' can also be used to mean 'some' or 'a little'. |
| Arabic | The Arabic word "قليل" (little) also refers to scarcity or insignificance. |
| Armenian | The Armenian word "քիչ" can also mean "small" or "short". |
| Azerbaijani | In certain contexts, "az" can also refer to "slight" or "faint" |
| Basque | The root is also present in the word “gutixa” (“a tiny bit”) or “gutixiar” (“to reduce, to diminish”). |
| Belarusian | The word "мала" also means "few" in Belarusian. |
| Bengali | The word "সামান্য" is derived from the Sanskrit word "सामान्य" meaning "common" or "ordinary". |
| Bosnian | The word "malo" can also refer to a child or the youngest member of a family. |
| Bulgarian | The word "малко" can also be used to refer to a moment or a while "почакай малко" |
| Catalan | The Catalan word "poc" is derived from the Latin word "paucus". It can also mean "few" or "not much". |
| Cebuano | The word "gamay" can also mean "to feel" or "to touch". |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 小 refers to something junior, insignificant, narrow, or delicate. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 小 is also a common component in the Chinese name of plants, animals, and objects to denote their small size. |
| Corsican | The Corsican word "pocu" also means "young" or "small". |
| Croatian | "Malo" can also refer to a child or offspring |
| Czech | The word "málo" can also mean "a few" or "small in number" in Czech. |
| Danish | The word 'lille' can also mean 'small' or 'short' in Danish. |
| Dutch | Cognate of many similar-sounding words in West Germanic languages like "wenig" (German), "weenig" (West Frisian),"wineg" (Norwegian), "weinig" (Afrikaans) |
| Esperanto | "Multe" derives from Latin "multus," meaning "much," thereby suggesting "malmulte" (literally meaning "very little") is an antonym that "says what it doesn't say," using "much" to mean "not much" |
| Estonian | The word "vähe" is also related to the words "viha" (anger), "vaegus" (deficit), "vaene" (poor). |
| Finnish | It is related to the Estonian word "vähe" and the Hungarian word "kevés," both meaning "few" |
| French | The word "peu" can also mean "few" or "not much". |
| Frisian | Lyts is cognate with the Old Saxon "luttik" and the German "klein" and also means "small" and "modest" in Frisian. |
| Galician | In medieval Galician, "pouco" could also mean "few" or "not many," reflecting its Indo-European root meaning "small in number". |
| Georgian | The word "პატარა" ("little") in Georgian also translates to "humble" or "insignificant". |
| German | The word "wenig" is cognate with the English word "want" and originally meant "lacking" or "insufficient". |
| Greek | The word 'λίγο' in Greek can also mean 'few' or 'a little bit of'. |
| Gujarati | In addition to meaning "little," "થોડું" can also mean "some" or "a few." |
| Haitian Creole | The word "ti kras" in Haitian Creole can also mean "small but strong" or "small but brave" |
| Hausa | The word "kadan" can also mean "small" or "young" in Hausa. |
| Hawaiian | The Hawaiian word "liʻiliʻi" can also refer to something precious, delicate, or a beloved person. |
| Hebrew | The Hebrew word 'קטן' (small) can also mean “young” or “minor. |
| Hindi | Hindi थोड़ा also means "a small quantity" in addition to "a little bit." |
| Hmong | The Hmong word "tsawg" also means "small" or "short". |
| Hungarian | The Hungarian word "kis" also has a secondary meaning as "nice" or "beloved". |
| Icelandic | The Icelandic word "lítið" comes from the Old Norse word "líta", meaning "to see" or "to observe". |
| Igbo | Igbo has three etymologies for 'obere', the diminutive: ' obere ' (a baby boy), ' obere ' (a younger sibling), and ' obere ' (a junior relation in a family). |
| Indonesian | The word 'sedikit' in Indonesian can also mean 'slightly' in English. |
| Irish | The word “beag” can also mean "small" or "short" in Irish. |
| Italian | The word "piccolo" can also refer to a small musical instrument, a type of clarinet. |
| Japanese | "少し" is a Japanese word that can mean "a little bit," "few," or "briefly." |
| Javanese | The word "sithik" is also used as a term of endearment for young children or someone who is young at heart. |
| Kannada | The word "ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ" can also mean "a part" or "a small amount". |
| Kazakh | The word "кішкентай" can also mean "small" or "young" in Kazakh. |
| Korean | The word "작은" can also be used to refer to something that is insignificant or unimportant. |
| Kurdish | Kurdish "kêm" comes from Old Iranian *kam- or *kamm-, also in Avestan as "kaēm" and means both "small, few" and "deficient". |
| Kyrgyz | The word "кичинекей" can also mean "dear child" or "darling" in Kyrgyz. |
| Lao | The Lao word ນ້ອຍ can also mean "few," "a short time," or "younger than others in age or status." |
| Latin | Paulo can also mean "gradually" or "slowly" in Latin. |
| Latvian | The word "maz" is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root "mek-", meaning "small" or "narrow"} |
| Lithuanian | The Lithuanian word "mažai" may also refer to the root "mazgoju", meaning to wash, or the word "maža", meaning a drop. |
| Luxembourgish | Wéineg is derived from the Old High German word 'wīnag', meaning 'friend' or 'companion'. It has also been used in Luxembourgish to refer to a small child or a term of endearment. |
| Macedonian | The word "малку" can also mean "not much" or "few" in Macedonian. |
| Malagasy | In Malagasy, the word "little" can also mean "young" or "immature". |
| Malay | The word "sedikit" can also mean "few" in Indonesian. |
| Malayalam | The word "അല്പം" ("alpam") is also used in the sense of a "small amount" or "a little bit". |
| Maltese | The Maltese word "ftit" derives from the Arabic word "qalil" or "qill", both meaning "little". |
| Maori | The word "iti" can also be used to convey the idea of "cute" or "beautiful". |
| Marathi | The word "थोडे" in Marathi comes from the Sanskrit word "तुदे" meaning "to break" or "to divide". |
| Mongolian | Mongolian 'бага' is cognate with the Turkic word 'bak' and the Persian 'baag', all of which mean 'farm' or 'garden'. |
| Myanmar (Burmese) | The reduplicated form "နည်းနည်း" (pronounced [ɲéɲéɲé]) means "little" in the sense of small or insignificant, and also denotes humility or endearment. |
| Nepali | Also written as sānu, sano means "young or junior" in Nepali, and also can refer to younger generations, or siblings. |
| Norwegian | Litt in Norwegian can also mean "a bit" or "slightly". |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | In addition to meaning "little" or "small," pang'ono can also refer to an adverb meaning "a little bit" or "slightly." |
| Pashto | The word "لږ" can also mean "few" or "less". |
| Persian | It derives from Proto-Semitic *qrt or *qryt, "few, a little", from Semitic "to cut off, shorten, divide" (see قَطَعَ qata'a "to cut"). |
| Polish | The word "mało" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "malъ", which also means "few". |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | The Portuguese word 'pouco' can also mean 'few' or 'a bit'. |
| Punjabi | The word ਥੋੜਾ originated from the Sanskrit word 'अल्प' (alpa), which also means little or small. |
| Romanian | The Romanian word "puțin" can also mean "rarely" and "few". |
| Russian | "Маленький" may also mean short, young, insignificant, minor, humble, and tender in Russian. |
| Samoan | The word also has the alternate meaning of "few" or "a small number." |
| Scots Gaelic | Beag is cognate with Old Irish "beg," Welsh "bach," and Latin "paucus," and can also mean "few" in Gaelic. |
| Serbian | The word "мало" can also mean "rare", "few", or "hardly". |
| Sesotho | In Sesotho, the diminutive prefix “hanyane” has the additional meaning of “beloved.” |
| Shona | Zvishoma can also mean "little by little" or "gradually". |
| Sindhi | Sindhi word "ٿورڙو" (little) comes from the Sanskrit word "तुर" (quick, fast), suggesting a sense of smallness or brevity. |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | The Sinhalese word 'කුඩා' may be derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *kewd- ('short') and is also related to the Sanskrit word 'कुड्य' ('hunchback'). |
| Slovak | "Málo" means "very" in a colloquial sense, and "small child" in archaic usage. |
| Slovenian | The word "malo" can also mean "a little bit" or "slightly". |
| Somali | Somali "yar" also means "small" in Arabic and is used to indicate something that is small or insignificant. |
| Spanish | The word "pequeño" originates from Latin "piccinus," meaning "very small". |
| Sundanese | The word 'saeutik' is also used to describe something that is delicate or fragile, such as a flower. |
| Swahili | Kidogo is also a diminutive term of endearment. |
| Swedish | The word "liten" in Swedish can also refer to "thin" or "narrow" in some contexts, a meaning which is not shared by the English word "little". |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | "Kaunti" is an archaic word meaning "small amount", and was the origin of the word "unti-unti" (little by little). |
| Tajik | "Каме" is derived from "Кам" (few) but also can be used as "Little" with a slightly different meaning and usage. |
| Tamil | In Tamil, "கொஞ்சம்" can also mean "a little bit," "slightly," or "a few." |
| Telugu | The word "కొద్దిగా" is derived from the Sanskrit word "कुत्" (kut), meaning "small". It can also mean "a little bit", "a few", or "a small amount". |
| Thai | In Thai, "เล็กน้อย" can also mean "slightly" or "a bit". |
| Turkish | In addition to its primary meaning, "küçük" can also refer to something that is young or immature, and can be used as a term of endearment. |
| Ukrainian | The Ukrainian word "мало" is derived from the Proto-Slavic root *malъ, meaning "small", "few", or "insignificant." |
| Urdu | The word 'تھوڑا' also connotes a sense of 'some' or 'a bit' |
| Uzbek | In Uzbek, "oz" can also mean "self" or "own". |
| Vietnamese | The word “ít” has additional meanings of “lacking” or “insufficient”. |
| Welsh | The word "ychydig" is thought to derive from the Proto-Celtic word "*iskos", meaning "few." |
| Xhosa | The root '-nci' is the same as the root of the word 'uncinci' (small, slightly) and the suffix '-ana' (small, diminutive). |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word "ביסל" ("bisl") can also mean "a bit," "some," or "a little bit." |
| Yoruba | In Benin, "diẹ" can also mean "to come", like in the phrase "diẹ wálé" (come home). |
| Zulu | Okuncane, the Zulu word for little, is also used figuratively to describe something that is unimportant or insignificant |
| English | The word "little" derives from the Old English word "lytel," which meant "small" or "insignificant." |