lesseradj.adv.n.
/ˈlɛsə/, U.S. /ˈlɛsər/ A. adj.
I. General senses.
1. Of lower status, importance, or rank; inferior; = less adj. 1b.
a. In predicative use. Now chiefly followed by than.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [adjective] > low or subordinate
wokec897
lessOE
lesserc1225
secondary1386
lowerc1390
subalternate?a1425
subsidiary1603
pedaneous1617
subordinate1620
undergraduate1655
subdominant1826
unlofty1869
lower case1917
c1225 (?c1200) Sawles Warde (Royal) (1938) 38 (MED) Þah hit muri nere, nes na lessere mi tale þen wes murhðes sondes.
a1425 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (London Univ.) (1873) C. xx. l. 147 (MED) Lessere [c1400 Huntington HM 137 Thus is þe holigost god, noþer grettoure ne lasse Thenne is þe syre oþer þe sone].
1528 R. Copland tr. Secrete of Secretes of Arystotle sig. D.ii I pray the my dere sone, that thou greue nor dysprays none lesser than thou.
1579 W. Fulke Heskins Parl. Repealed in D. Heskins Ouerthrowne 115 This is in nothing lesser then that.
1692 S. Patrick Answer to Touchstone of Reformed Gospel 71 In these, none was greater or lesser than another.
1710 H. Prideaux Orig. & Right Tithes ii. 62 The work and duty of the Christian Priesthood is lesser than was that of the Levitical.
1841 S. F. Adams Vivia Perpetua v. ii. 175 I will not be lesser than I am, Unworthy as I am for this emprize.
1880 Glasgow Herald 24 Sept. 4/3 The nation makes it a studied fashion to eschew the national name,..as if the ‘Kirk’ were something lower and lesser than the ‘Church’.
1994 New Scientist 12 Mar. 48/1 Primary sexism is the straight sort: women are lesser than men, or the equation women = victims.
2005 Chicago Tribune (Midwest ed.) 19 June xiii. 7/3 Second-label wines tend to be lesser in quality and in price but are still very good.
b. In attributive use.lesser mortal: see mortal n. 1c.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > [adjective]
evil971
lowc1175
poor?c1225
feeblec1275
vilea1300
petty1372
unthende1377
secondary1386
petitc1390
unmeeta1393
illa1400
commonc1400
coarse1424
indigent1426
unlikelyc1450
lesser1464
gross1474
naughty1526
inferior1531
reprobate?1545
slender1577
unlikely1578
puny1579
under1580
wooden1592
sordid1596
puisne1598
provant1601
subministrant1604
inferious1607
sublunary1624
indifferent1638
undermatched1642
unworthy1646
underly1648
turncoated1650
female1652
undergraduate1655
farandinical1675
baddishc1736
ungenerous1745
understrapping1762
tinnified1794
demi-semi1805
shabby1805
dicky1819
poor white1821
tin-pot1838
deterior1848
substandard1850
crumby1859
cheesy1863
po'1866
not-quite1867
rocky1873
mouldy1876
low-grade1878
sketchy1878
midget1879
junky1880
ullaged1892
abysmal1904
bodgie1905
junk1908
crap1936
ropy1941
bodger1945
two-star1951
tripey1955
manky1958
schlocky1960
cack1978
wank1991
bowf1994
the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > inferior thing > [adjective]
salec1299
bastarda1348
sorry1372
slight1393
shrewd1426
singlec1449
backc1450
soberc1450
lesser1464
silly?a1500
starven1546
mockado1577
subaltern1578
bastardly1583
wooden1592
starved1604
perishing1605
starveling1611
minor1612
starvy1647
potsherd1655
low1727
la-la1800
waif1824
lathen1843
one-eyed1843
snide1859
bobbery1873
jerkwater1877
low-grade1878
shoddy1882
tinhorn1886
jerk1893
cheapie1898
shaganappi1900
buckeye1906
reach-me-down1907
pissy1922
crappy1928
cruddy1935
el cheapo1967
pound shop1989
1464 R. Calle in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) II. 299 He seide leuer he hadde lose the lessere frende than the greete frende.
1561 T. Norton tr. J. Calvin Inst. Christian Relig. i. f. 29 To offer Sacrifices to spirites, lesser Gods or dead men of honor.
1590 R. Parsons 2nd Pt. Bk. Christian Exercise 112 A hundred such prophecies more..I might alledge of..the twelue lesser Prophets, and of other which I haue not named.
1641 Earl of Monmouth tr. G. F. Biondi Hist. Civil Warres Eng. I. ii. 69 For what concernes prisoners of lesser condition yet re-donable, the example of the victory at Lepanto..may suffice.
1698 J. Fryer New Acct. E.-India & Persia 171 Setting the lesser Lords at variance with their Prince.
1757 E. Burke Philos. Enq. Sublime & Beautiful iv. §24. 164 These lesser, and if I may say, domestic virtues.
1842 Ld. Tennyson Locksley Hall in Poems (new ed.) II. 107 Woman is the lesser man.
1863 A. W. Kinglake Invasion of Crimea I. x. 138 The lesser minds gave way to the greater.
1909 Kindergarten-primary Mag. Jan. 136/1 The resemblant arts, painting, sculpture, architecture, and all the lesser arts.
1960 E. Partridge Charm of Words 22 Whitehallese, or gobbledygook, the language of lesser officials and of politicians.
2013 Time 15 Apr. 53/1 A conceit that could, in the hands of a lesser writer, devolve into a redundant grind.
2. Of not so great size, extent, or degree; of inferior dimensions, bulk, duration, etc.; smaller; = less adj. 1a.
a. In attributive use. Frequently in to a lesser extent. Also elliptically, with the noun supplied by the context.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > smallness > [adjective] > smaller
lessOE
lesser1440
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [adjective] > low or subordinate > of two things of same name
lesseOE
lesser1440
minorc1500
1440 in C. Welch Tower Bridge (1894) 55 Lesser Rennyng ram.
?a1450 in W. G. Benham Oath Bk. Colchester (1907) 3 (MED) If there be any..that occupie ij mesurs, that is to sey a gret mesur to bye with, and a lesser to sel with, whetir it be busshell, halffe busshell, or pekke, yerd, half yerd, or elle.
1459 Inventory Fastolf's Wardrobe in Paston Lett. (1904) III. 177 Item, ij. pillowes of lynen clothe of a lasser assyse.
1489 W. Caxton tr. C. de Pisan Bk. Fayttes of Armes ii. xx. sig. I.iiij Thre other gonnes wherof one grete and two lesser.
?1518 A. Barclay tr. D. Mancinus Myrrour Good Maners sig. Cii In sentence remyse, is lesser iniury Than in heedlynge sentence, pronounsed hastely.
1531 tr. E. Fox et al. Determinations Moste Famous Vniuersities iii. f. 45v Howe is it then, seynge he forbyddeth the greatter vice, that he speketh not also of the lesser?
1594 R. Barnfield Affectionate Shepheard ii. lv. sig. Diij For lesser cease, when greater griefes begin.
1611 Bible (King James) Gen. i. 16 The greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. View more context for this quotation
1665 R. Boyle Occas. Refl. iv. xiv. sig. Ff7v The parting with a greater Fortune, as freely as with a lesser.
1710 H. Prideaux Orig. & Right Tithes ii. 61 It must be either for a larger portion, or for a lesser.
1719 J. Quincy Lexicon Physico-medicum 78/2 Its Particles are in a greater or lesser Motion than those of the sensitory Organs.
1766 A. Reid tr. H. F. Le Dran Consultations Surg. 25 The first Abscess had denuded the Intestine, to a greater or lesser Extent.
1786 J. Z. Holwell Diss. Intelligent Beings 21 The lesser delinquents [were] to animate the less offensive.
1800 London Packet 19 Mar. For the space of 18 years prior to that time, the same, though to a lesser extent, prevailed.
1846 Hood's Mag. July 92 Lo! on a lesser scale, 'tis still the theme.
1896 W. D. Howells Impressions & Experiences 259 The lights of lesser craft dipped by, and came and went in the distance.
1944 J. B. Parry in R. Greenhalgh Pract. Builder viii. 284/1 Teak, Columbian pine and to a lesser extent, pitch pine, are well known as anti-drying materials.
2015 Wall St. Jrnl. 15 Aug. a11/5 Along the way, lesser sums land in the pockets of lawyers and revolving-door fixers who attend the racket.
b. In predicative use. Chiefly followed by than. Now rare.
ΚΠ
1495 Trevisa's Bartholomeus De Proprietatibus Rerum (de Worde) xix. cvi. sig. llviii/1 Morethrumbles egges ben lyke to Geys egges: but they ben lesser [a1398 BL Add. 27944 þay beþ lasse; L. minora]..and worser of smellynge.
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Beate..a thynge, wherby to make it lesser or thynner.
1673 J. Ray Observ. Journey Low-countries 40 We judged it [sc. Amsterdam] to be..lesser than one half of London.
1678 J. Ray tr. F. Willughby Ornithol. 79 It is said to be lesser than a Peregrine Falcon.
1781 T. Pennant Hist. Quadrupeds I. 82 The Springer Antelope..weighs about fifty pounds, and is rather lesser than a roebuck.
1787 G. Winter New Syst. Husbandry 83 The less the height of their descent, the lesser is the resistance they meet with in the air.
1847–9 Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. IV. 633/1 Every spinal segment which is lesser, refers to every spinal segment which is greater; and all lesser segments refer to that which is greatest.
1937 Times 26 Aug. 14/3 He had..a remarkable humility before the opinions of others, whose knowledge was often lesser than his own.
2004 B. Greene Fabric of Cosmos (2005) i. iii. 50 The lesser the speed, the smaller the deviation from prerelativity physics.
c. Modifying the name of a region, territory, etc.: the smaller of two regions or territories with the same name; the smaller of two parts into which a region is divided. Cf. greater adj. 1c(a). †Lesser Britain: Brittany (obsolete). See also Lesser Asia n. at Compounds 2.
ΚΠ
1546 J. Bale Actes Eng. Votaryes: 1st Pt. f. 19v The lande of Armorica (that we now call the lesser Brytayne).
1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 189 Asia conteyneth in hir circuit, Bythinia Pontus, the lesser Asia, Lycia, Galatia, Paphlagonia, Pamphilia, Capadocia, the lesser Armenia, & Cilicia.
1645 Newes from Great Turke 1 The Invincible King of the Turkes, of Greece.., of the Great and Lesser Ægypt, of America and Africa.
1687 C. Milton State Church-affairs Great Brit. 116 The Britains..were compell'd to..send Messengers into the lesser Britain beyond Sea.
1731 G. Medley tr. P. Kolb Present State Cape Good-Hope I. 66 We come now to the two Nations, call'd the Greater and Lesser Namaqua. The Lesser lies on the Coast; the Greater is the next Nation East ward.
1735 J. Atkins Voy. Guinea 221 Charibbees were the lesser Antilles.
1842 L. Hunt Palfrey 64 Lays..are with good reason supposed to have had their source in the Greater or Lesser Britain—that is to say, either among the Welsh of this island, or their cousins of French Brittany.
1877 Littell's Living Age Apr. 92/1 Martinique..is of all the Lesser Antilles the most nature-favored.
1931 J. Gavorse Suetonius' Lives Twelve Caesars i. 27 To make war on the Parthians by way of Lesser Armenia.
1957 G. E. Hutchinson Treat. Limnol. I. i. 136 A series of inland drainage basins or shotts between the Greater and Lesser Atlas Mountains.
2005 Nature 6 Jan. 32/2 The 1760–70 plague ants of the Lesser Antilles had the same traits as S. geminata save two.
II. In technical uses, contrasted with greater.
3.
a. In the names of plants and animals distinguished by having a smaller size than another of the same name. Cf. least adj. 1c, less adj. 1d.lesser ape, lesser spotted woodpecker: see Compounds 2.lesser black-backed gull, lesser centaury, lesser marshwort, lesser redpoll, etc.: 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
?a1425 (?1373) Lelamour Herbal (1938) f. 20 (MED) Doworte ys an erbe that sum men calleþ doweches, oþer lesior oþer more morell.
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball iv. lxvii. 530 The lesser Carline..stoppeth all issue of blood,..so that it be eaten.
1597 J. Gerard Herball iii. lxxxvix. 1260 Armeniaca Malus minor. The lesser Aprecocke tree.
1640 J. Parkinson Theatrum Botanicum 1351 Orchis Myodes minor, the lesser Flye flower.
1673 J. Ray Coll. Eng. Words 93 The lesser ash-coloured Sea-cobor Mew: Larus cinereus minor.
1710 W. Salmon Botanologia II. 952/1 The second, or Carnation Rose. It is in most things like unto the Lesser White Rose, both for the growing of the Stock and the bigness of the Flower.
1776 J. Cook Jrnl. 30 Dec. (1967) III. i. 46 The Shags are of two sorts, the lesser Cormorant or Water Crow, and another which is black above with a white belly.
1876 R. Buchanan Shadow of Sword I. xiv. 222 He saw..the dark shadows of the predatory fishes, from the lesser dogfish to the non-tropical shark.
1887 F. H. Arnold Flora Sussex 75 T[ypha] angustifolia, L. Lesser Cat's Tail.—Ponds and pools; rather rare.
1931 K. M. Smith Textbk. Agric. Entomol. xi. 190 (heading) Eumerus tuberculatus..Lesser Bulb Fly.
1981 Times 6 Jan. 4/7 The birds included many extremely rare and protected species, with puffins, greater and lesser guillemots, eider ducks and kittiwakes being washed ashore on the filthy beaches.
2007 Ecologist July 58/3 Lesser knapweed is a sturdy purple flower found in meadows, which both butterflies and bumblebees love.
b. Astronomy. In the names of certain constellations and stars, as Lesser Bear (= Little Bear n.), Lesser Dog (= Little Dog n. at little adj., pron., n., and adv. Compounds 1d), Lesser Lion (= Little Lion at lion n. 7).See also Lesser Dog Star at Dog Star n. 1, Lesser Wain at wain n.1 2, Lesser Water Snake at water snake n. 3a.Now largely superseded by little.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > constellation > [adjective]
lesser1540
greater1556
asteristic1652
binary stars1802
constellatory1819
asterismal1840
1540 J. Palsgrave tr. G. Gnapheus Comedye of Acolastus i. iii. sig. Gii Ye Sidoniens loke euer whan they saile by see on the night, towardis the starre, called the dogges taile, or Vrsa minor, the lesser beare.
1556 R. Record Castle of Knowl. 268 Northe almost from this Dogge is ther a constellation of 2 only starres named Canicula, the lesser Dogge.
a1609 J. Dennys Secrets of Angling (1613) iii. xxi. sig. D7v When cold Boreas..Lookes out from vnderneath the lesser beare.
1651 V. Wing Harmonicon 261 Procyon; the lesser dog.
1712 E. Wells Young Gentleman's Astron., Chronol., & Dialling vii. 89 The southern Constellations known to the Antients are the Whale, Eridanus, the Hare, orion, the greater Dog, the lesser Dog, [etc.].
1736 Philos. Trans. 1735–6 (Royal Soc.) 39 244 I observed a lucid Arch one Degree broad, which extended along the Northern Crown, the Cingulum Boötis, the Coma Berenices, the lesser Lion and Cancer.
1852 Harper's Mag. Jan. 262/2 Coming up the eastern sky are Orion, Gemini, Sirius, the Lesser Dog.
1869 E. Dunkin Midnight Sky 159 Leo Minor, the Lesser Lion, was also formed by Hevelius about the year 1691, out of the district between Leo and Ursa Major.
1923 Times 1 Nov. 20/3 Procyon, the lesser Dog, called so in distinction to Sirius, the greater Dog.
1935 A. McC. Harding Astron. vi. 304 The Lesser Lion is very inconspicuous and is rather difficult to identify.
1999 MELUS Spring 197 Arabs from North Africa knew Ursa Minor as Al Dubb al Asghar—the lesser Bear.
2015 L. Loria What is Constellation? 19 (caption) The Canis Minor (‘Lesser Dog’) and Monoceros (‘Unicorn’) constellations.
c. Anatomy. Forming names of parts of the body that are the smaller of two similar, related, or neighbouring structures, or the smaller of two divisions of a structure.lesser omentum: see Compounds 2.lesser focile, lesser hippocampus, lesser labium, lesser trochanter: see the second element.
ΚΠ
?1541 R. Copland Guy de Chauliac's Questyonary Cyrurgyens ii. sig. Kivv The lesser pyt bone..with the other pyt bone makynge the outwarde ancle.
1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 539 (caption) The lesser Canthus or corner of the eye.
1683 A. Snape Anat. Horse iv. xx. 186 The third and last of the Extenders is called Glutæus minor, or lesser Buttock Muscle.
a1750 W. Gibson New Treat. Dis. Horses (1751) ii. i. 38 The lower end of the lesser Pastern is articulated, and join'd to the Coffin Bone by two Heads, and to the upper or greater Pastern in the same manner.
1775 S. F. Simmons tr. C. Person Elements Anat. & Animal Œcon. iv. 159 This aperture..is situated under the great lobe of the liver, near the beginning of the lesser lobe.
1842 E. Wilson Anatomist's Vade Mecum (ed. 2) 419 The lesser internal cutaneous nerve or nerve of Wrisberg.
1873 St. G. Mivart Lessons Elem. Anat. v. 180 The lesser ischiatic notch.
1909 D. J. Cunningham Text-bk. Anat. (ed. 3) 201 The second or distal row includes the great multangular or trapezium, lesser multangular or trapezoid, [etc.].
1955 R. Macintosh & M. Ostlere Local Analgesia Head & Neck xvii. 130 The nerve supply of the auricle is variable..it is supplied by the great auricular and lesser occipital nerves.
2006 K. D. Rose Beginning Age Mammals ii. 32 Many surface features of the humerus are related to muscle attachments (e.g., greater and lesser tuberosities (tubercles); [etc.]).
4. Music. = minor adj. 6. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > pitch > interval > [adjective] > minor
flat1597
lesser1610
minor1653
1610 T. Campion New Way Counter-point sig. B3 A lesser Third consists of a Tone, and a Semi-tone; here by a Tone is ment a perfect Second, or as they name it a whole note.
1655 Campion's Art of composing Musick in Parts in J. Playford Introd. Skill Musick ii. 10 A sixt beneath the Base is a third above, and if it be the lesser sixt, then is the third above the greater third.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Diesis Enharmonical Diesis is the Difference between a greater, and lesser Semi-tone.
1784 W. Jones Treat. Art of Music vi. 26 They have a character essentially different from the original Key, in carrying the lesser Third.
1818 T. Busby Gram. Music 323 Lesser Sixth, with Lesser Third.
1855 R. Browning Toccata of Galuppi's vii, in Men & Women I. 58 Those lesser thirds so plaintive, sixths diminished, sigh on sigh.
1873 R. Bridges Poems 12 But let the viol lead the melody, With lesser intervals, and plaintive moan Of sinking semitone.
1876 J. Stainer & W. A. Barrett Dict. Musical Terms 271/2 Lesser, minor, as: with the lesser third, in the minor key; lesser sixth, a minor sixth.
1913 Musical Times 54 788/1 Joachim..would play the greater tone first and the lesser second.
1963 Proc. Royal Music Assoc. 89th Sess. 15 To ascribe the Gibbons fantasia to Tone I implies that..the lesser third is more common than the greater.
B. adv.
To a lesser or smaller extent; in a lower degree; to an inferior extent, amount, etc.; = less adv. 1. Now rare.In quot. ?a1625: to less purpose.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adverb] > to a lesser extent
lesseOE
worseeOE
lessera1500
worser1584
a1500 St. Thomas Becket (Rawl.) l. 30 in P. A. Brown Devel. Legend Thomas Becket (1930) 262 Litil þei drunken & lesser etyn.
1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III iii. iv. 52 I thinke there is neuer a man in christendome, That can lesser hide his loue or hate then he.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) v. vi. 187 He (true Knight) No lesser of her Honour confident Then I did truly finde her. View more context for this quotation
?a1625 Lawes of Candy ii. i, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Ggg4v/2 I was an eare-witnesse When this young man spoke lesser then he acted, And had the souldiers voice to helpe him out.
1828 C. Leo tr. W. Gesenius Hebrew Lex. Old Test. II. 778/1 Instances of a pausal form with a lesser distinctive accent sometimes occur.
1866 in J. E. Carpenter Amusing Songster I. 93 They thought lesser on it than I did.
1918 J. H. Sammis Trust & Obey 73 Lord help us all that know lesser!
2015 Geelong (Austral.) Advertiser (Nexis) 18 Jan. 2 I've been trained to not sniff and to think lesser of those who do.
C. n.
Often with the: (a) the lesser one; (as a count noun, frequently with possessive) a lesser person than one mentioned; (b) that which is lesser.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] > smaller quantity or amount
the less (the)OE
lesser1543
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > one who is unimportant > of less importance
lesser1543
lesser light1567
1543 R. Record Ground of Artes i. sig. J.iiiv The second, by which ye other muste be diuided, & that is the lesser.
1589 W. Warner Albions Eng. (new ed.) v. xxvii. 120 The lessers feede the greate.
1607 W. Raleigh Lett. (1999) 302 The lesser will go over cleare where the greater shall stick and perishe.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Timon of Athens (1623) iv. iii. 6 The greater scornes the lesser.
1649 T. Shepard Theses Sabbaticæ i. 48 Ye observe (saith the Apostle) daies, and moneths, and times, and years... Wherein the Apostle seems to ascend from the lesser to the greater.
1711 Ladies Diary in C. Hutton Diarian Misc. (1775) I. 66 But if by division you make a decision, And the greater by the lesser divide.
1886 J. S. Blackie Messis Vitae 128 Homage of the lesser to the greater.
1888 T. W. Hall Correlation Theory Chem. Action & Affinity xlvi. 269 The Sun's radiation greatly meets the counter radiations of millions of his lessers, his betters, and his peers.
1937 S. Potter Muse in Chains 17 Eng. Lit. is an example of the interpretation of the greater by the lesser.
1968 Financial Times 17 Oct. 17/5 Nixon greets them all, and their political lessers, with cheery and intimate personal talk.
2005 D. McWilliams Pope's Children ii. 19 Some can't stand getting out-bought..by people they always thought of as their lessers.
Phrases
the lesser evil: the least unpleasant or harmful of two undesirable options. Also more fully the lesser of two evils (and variants). Cf. of two evils choose the less at two adj. 1a. [After Middle French le moins mauvais (14th cent.) and its model post-classical Latin minus malum (6th cent.), itself apparently after ancient Greek τὸ ἔλαττον κακὸν (Aristotle).]
ΚΠ
1550 T. Nicolls tr. Thucydides Hist. Peloponnesian War vii. xii. f. cxiv Force constrayneth them to chose of two parties, that be nothinge woorthe, the lesser euill [Fr. le moins mauuais].
1627 R. S. tr. V. Cepari Life Gonzaga i. xxix. 144 He chose that which seemed to be lesser of two euils [L. quod è duobus minus malum est visum].
1673 Case of Inhabitants Croyden 5 The People..were enforced to give him what he demanded rather then be undone by contending with him; that being the lesser evil of the too.
1710 J. Norris Treat. Christian Prudence 381 Prudence directs us to chuse the lesser Evil rather than incur a greater.
1793 True Briton 22 Oct. In a general sense, Peace is better for a Country than War; but circumstances may arise so peculiar and urgent as to render War the lesser evil of the two.
1824 J. James Comment Collects used in Church of Eng. 137 Occasions..will sometimes occur, when our decisions must prove unsatisfactory; and when the highest human wisdom can only chuse the lesser evil.
1875 Semi-centennial Amer. Unitarian Assoc. 40 If..the alternative for man were the end and arrest of scientific progress, or the death of faith.., then I say that the arrest of science would be the lesser evil of the two.
1949 Sci. News Let. 25 June 388/1 A few patients need the drug for as long as two or three years but the physicians feel that it is the lesser of two evils, since it keeps them away from alcohol.
1990 R. Malan My Traitor's Heart (1991) ii. 415 Ms Kirkpatrick believed that tinpot rightwing dictators were often a lesser evil than socialist totalitarians.
2016 Los Angeles Times (Nexis) 25 Sept. a19 It's absurd—and perilous—to portray this election, as so many are doing, as a choice of the ‘lesser of two evils’.
Compounds
C1. Compounds of the adverb.
a. Combining with participles with the sense ‘to a lesser extent’, as lesser-educated, lesser-experienced, lesser-paid.
ΚΠ
1869 R. Gregory Serm. on Poorer Classes London ii. 28 A very large proportion of our lesser educated people who pray at all, use the foolish rhyme.
1939 Daily Herald (Biloxi, Mississippi) 4 Feb. 6/8 Ryan had the edge over his lesser-experienced opponent.
1947 Living Church 14 Dec. 3/2 Other harmful and repressive conditions under which the lesser privileged Negroes there must live.
1996 Outlook (New Delhi) 28 Aug. 66/1 His mission is precisely to emphasise ‘lesser-explored’ facets of history.
2008 S. Venkatesh Gang Leader for Day iv. 116 A set of lesser-paid ‘directors’ who managed the six-person teams that did the actual street-level selling of crack.
b. Forming parasynthetic adjectives with the sense ‘that has a lesser ——’, as lesser-angled, lesser-brained, lesser-sized.
ΚΠ
1668 G. C. in H. More Divine Dialogues To Rdr. sig. A4v As if the lesser-sized Bodies were the fittest Sheath or Case for a Cartesian Wit.
1740 E. Albin Suppl. Nat. Hist. Birds 14 This Bird is of the bigness of the lesser sized Parrots.
1889 Internat. Ann. Anthonys Photogr. Bull. 4 A longer-focussed and lesser-angled lens.
1906 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Oct. 526/2 The capable man..must come to the front, and pass the lesser-brained plodder and the clever idler.
1997 C. Brookmyre Country of Blind (2001) iv. 91 Keelus Glasguensas Vulgaris, the lesser-brained Glesca Keelie.
c.
lesser-known adj. not as well or widely known as another or others of the same kind.
ΚΠ
1813 Philos. Mag. 42 74 We stated the probability of their belonging to some of the lesser known species of this genus.
1860 Morning Chron. 27 Jan. 5/2 The following sketch of the lesser known members of the new Sardinian Cabinet appears in the foreign journals.
1936 R. Croft-Cooke Darts vii. 44 Of all the lesser-known games which can be played on a dart-board, there is none which combines such fascinating elements as Shanghai.
1987 G. Dozois in Year's Best Sci. Fiction Fifth Ann. Coll. Introd. p. xiii This practice of hiring lesser-known authors to create new adventures set ‘in the world of’ some famous SF novel..strikes me as a very dangerous trend.
2016 Church Times 29 Apr. 18/3 Lemongrass is a lesser-known herb worthy of wider cultivation.
C2. Compounds of the adjective.
lesser ape n. [after great ape n. at great adj., n., adv., and int. Compounds 1g] Zoology (originally) an ape smaller than a great ape; (in later use) spec. any of various small apes constituting the family Hylobatidae (the gibbons and siamangs).In quot. 1862 apparently not showing an established use.
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1862 Amer. Jrnl. Sci. & Arts 2nd Ser. 33 49 At the death of a wicked man, his spirit enters the body of a lesser ape, which immediately becomes a gorilla.
1921 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 22 Jan. 125/1 Two tables of measurements and descriptions of the femoral characters of the primates (man, anthropoids, lesser apes, and lemuroids).]
1957 I. T. Sanderson Monkey Kingdom xii. 150/2 The true Apes, as understood today, go as follows: A. Lesser Apes (Hylobatinae), [etc.].
1985 Cambr. Encycl. Life Sci. xiv. 368/2 The lesser apes..are distinguished by their very agile form of locomotion.., which involves swinging through the trees by the arms.
2010 P. B. Gray & K. G. Anderson Fatherhood i. 12 We last shared a common ancestor with the lesser apes—the twelve or so species of gibbons and siamangs—approximately 20 million years ago.
Lesser Asia n. now archaic Asia Minor. [After post-classical Latin Asia minor, denoting the Anatolian peninsula (5th cent.); compare earlier Less Asia and Asia the less (in e.g. quots. eOE and ?a1475 at less adj. 1c). Compare also discussion at Anatolian n. and adj.]
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1542 tr. T. Bibliander Godly Consultation Ep. f. iiiv The Turkes dyd waste moste cruelly the lesser Asia [L. Asiam minorem].
1603 R. Knolles Gen. Hist. Turkes 184 The kingdome..was contained within the bounds of the lesser Asia.
1799 J. Aikin et al. Gen. Biogr. I. 413/2 The return of the Greeks was soon succeeded by wars between the Lacedemonians and the Great King, or rather his lieutenants in Lesser Asia.
1893 Jrnl. Royal Asiatic Soc. Apr. 403 The strange hieroglyphic inscriptions of Northern Syria and Lesser Asia.
1992 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 15 July 15 Cutting a grand figure on the world stage, even if that stage is only lesser Asia and our immediate neighbours.
lesser breeds n. people of inferior status.With allusion to Kipling: see quot. 1897.
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society > society and the community > social class > the common people > socially inferior person > [noun] > collectively
vulgarsa1513
worsers1581
unconscionable1607
lower class1637
the lower orders1679
worses1857
lesser breeds1897
lower depths1902
1897 R. Kipling Recessional in Times 17 July 13/6 Such boasting as the Gentiles use Or lesser breeds without the Law.
1955 C. Pearl Girl with Swansdown Seat iv. 135 Wilfrid Scawen Blunt..was an English gentleman who shamed his class by championing the lesser breeds in Egypt and India.
1973 ‘H. Howard’ Highway to Murder vii. 82 You and your kind think you can order the lesser breeds around.
2016 Guardian (Nexis) 22 Feb. This was an age that refused to recognise the artistic achievements of ‘lesser breeds’.
lesser circle n. [after great circle n.; compare small circle n. at small adj. and n.2 Compounds 4] now rare any circle on the surface of a sphere (esp. the surface of the earth) whose plane does not pass through the centre; spec. (in early use) either of the tropics or the Arctic or Antarctic circles; = small circle n. at small adj. and n.2 Compounds 4; contrasted with. great circle n.
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the world > the universe > celestial sphere > circle of celestial sphere > [noun] > lesser circle
lesser circle1559
1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 39 The iiij. lesser Circles, which are the tropicke of Cancer, the tropick of Capricorne, the circle Articke, and the circle Antarticke.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Great The Equator, Meridian, Ecliptic, Vertical, &c. are great or greater Circles of the Sphere; and the Parallels, Tropicks, &c. lesser Circles.
2007 D. Fenna Cartogr. Sci. i. 7 Any circle that is not a great circle is termed a lesser circle.
lesser excommunication n. see excommunication n. 1a.
lesser light n. a person of less eminence or importance.In later use, frequently with allusion to Genesis 1:16 ‘the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night’.
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the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > one who is unimportant > of less importance
lesser1543
lesser light1567
1567 G. Turberville tr. Ovid Heroycall Epist. f. 37v Bacchus wife ycrownde Doth farre surpasse the lesser lights [L. signa minora] that hir enuiron rounde.
1609 W. Shakespeare Pericles vii. 40 None that beheld him, but like lesser lights, Did vaile their Crownes to his supremacie. View more context for this quotation
1873 R. Browning Red Cotton Night-cap Country i. 34 Pilgrimage, Concourse, procession with, to head the host, Cardinal Mirecourt, quenching lesser lights.
1893 G. Moore Mod. Painting 45 In the seventeenth century were Poussin and Claude; in the eighteenth Watteau, Boucher, Chardin, and many lesser lights.
1943 K. Tennant Ride on Stranger xiii. 152 One of the lesser lights of the announcers' staff had his face slapped by a young lady.
2005 Women & Golf Jan. 8 The Ladies European Tour can be a tough place to earn a living—especially for the lesser lights.
lesser litany n. see litany n. 1a.
lesser omentum n. the smaller section of the omentum, extending from the liver to the upper part of the stomach and duodenum; also called gastrohepatic omentum.Cf. greater omentum n. at greater adj., adv., and n. Compounds 2. [After post-classical Latin parvum epiploon, epiploon parvum (1733 or earlier), itself after French petit épiploon (1728 or earlier); compare post-classical Latin omentum minus (1743 or earlier).]
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1752 tr. L. Heister Compend. Anat. Notes 367 This cavity..is not formed solely by the omentum; but by the upper superficies of the meso-colon..and..that membrane..which he calls the lesser omentum [L. parvum epiploon].
1845 G. Budd On Dis. Liver 16 The glands in the right border of the lesser omentum.
1951 G. R. de Beer Vertebr. Zool. (ed. 2) viii. 96 The lesser omentum is equivalent to the gastro-hepatic ligament and the duodeno-hepatic ligament.
2011 Mammalian Species No. 884. 160/1 The lesser omentum lacks fat deposits and connects the stomach to the liver.
lesser spotted woodpecker n. a common Eurasian woodpecker, Dendrocopos minor, having predominantly white and black plumage and (in the male) a scarlet crown; also called barred woodpecker.Cf. less adj. 1d.
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1673 J. Ray Coll. Eng. Words 84 The lesser spotted Wood-pecker or Witwal: Picus varius minor.
1855 York Herald 7 Apr. 7/2 Mr. Graham exhibited a specimen of the lesser spotted woodpecker, shot near Pocklington.
1924 H. A. Gilbert & A. Brook Secrets Bird Life vi. 147 The lesser spotted woodpecker is black and white like the greater, but is very much smaller.
2002 Times 13 Mar. (Business section) 34/1 Lesser spotted woodpeckers drum more quickly and quietly; the sound sometimes resembles the creaking of a bough.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.adv.n.c1225