Litterateur to Lively
Litterateur
(||Lit`te`ra`teur") n. [F.] One who occupies himself with literature; a literary man; a literatus. "
Befriended by one kind-hearted littérateur after another." C. Kingsley.
Littery
(Lit"ter*y) a. Covered or encumbered with litter; consisting of or constituting litter.
Little
(Lit"tle) a. [The regular comparative of this word is wanting, its place being supplied by less, or,
rarely, lesser. See Lesser. For the superlative least is used, the regular form, littlest, occurring very
rarely, except in some of the English provinces, and occasionally in colloquial language. " Where love is
great, the littlest doubts are fear." Shak.] [OE. litel, lutel, AS. ltel, litel, lt; akin to OS. littil, D. luttel,
LG. lütt, OHG. luzzil, MHG. lützel; and perh. to AS. lytig deceitful, lot deceit, Goth. liuts deceitful, lutn
to deceive; cf. also Icel. litill little, Sw. liten, Dan. liden, lille, Goth. leitils, which appear to have a
different root vowel.]
1. Small in size or extent; not big; diminutive; — opposed to big or large; as, a little body; a little animal; a
little piece of ground; a little hill; a little distance; a little child.
He sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature.
Luke
xix. 3. 2. Short in duration; brief; as, a little sleep.
Best him enough: after a little time,
I'll beat him too.
Shak. 3. Small in quantity or amount; not much; as, a little food; a little air or water.
Conceited of their little wisdoms, and doting upon their own fancies.
Barrow. 4. Small in dignity, power, or importance; not great; insignificant; contemptible.
When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes?
I Sam. xv. 17. 5. Small in force or efficiency; not strong; weak; slight; inconsiderable; as, little attention or exertion;little
effort; little care or diligence.
By sad experiment I know
How little weight my words with thee can find.
Milton. 6. Small in extent of views or sympathies; narrow; shallow; contracted; mean; illiberal; ungenerous.
The long-necked geese of the world that are ever hissing dispraise,
Because their natures are little.
Tennyson. Little chief. (Zoöl.) See Chief hare. — Little finger, the fourth and smallest finger of the hand. —
Little go (Eng. Universities), a public examination about the middle of the course, which is less strict
and important than the final one; — called also smalls. Cf. Great go, under Great. Thackeray. —
Little hours (R. C. Ch.), the offices of prime, tierce, sext, and nones. Vespers and compline are
sometimes included. — Little ones, young children.
The men, and the women, and the little ones.
Deut. ii. 34. Little
(Lit"tle), n.
1. That which is little; a small quantity, amount, space, or the like.
Much was in little writ.
Dryden.
There are many expressions, which carrying with them no clear ideas, are like to remove but little of my
ignorance.
Locke.
