Nominal Forms
Infinitive: to less
Participle: lessed
Gerund: lessing
Cognates
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Indicative
Present
| I | less |
| you | less |
| he;she;it | lesses |
| we | less |
| you | less |
| they | less |
Perfect
| I | have lessed |
| you | have lessed |
| he;she;it | has lessed |
| we | have lessed |
| you | have lessed |
| they | have lessed |
Past
| I | lessed |
| you | lessed |
| he;she;it | lessed |
| we | lessed |
| you | lessed |
| they | lessed |
Pluperfect
| I | had lessed |
| you | had lessed |
| he;she;it | had lessed |
| we | had lessed |
| you | had lessed |
| they | had lessed |
Future
| I | will less |
| you | will less |
| he;she;it | will less |
| we | will less |
| you | will less |
| they | will less |
Future Perfect
| I | will have lessed |
| you | will have lessed |
| he;she;it | will have lessed |
| we | will have lessed |
| you | will have lessed |
| they | will have lessed |
Subjunctive
Present
| I | less |
| you | less |
| he;she;it | less |
| we | less |
| you | less |
| they | less |
Perfect
| I | have lessed |
| you | have lessed |
| he;she;it | have lessed |
| we | have lessed |
| you | have lessed |
| they | have lessed |
Imperfect
| I | lessed |
| you | lessed |
| he;she;it | lessed |
| we | lessed |
| you | lessed |
| they | lessed |
Pluperfect
| I | had lessed |
| you | had lessed |
| he;she;it | had lessed |
| we | had lessed |
| you | had lessed |
| they | had lessed |
Conditional
Present
| I | would less |
| you | would less |
| he;she;it | would less |
| we | would less |
| you | would less |
| they | would less |
Perfect
| I | would have lessed |
| you | would have lessed |
| he;she;it | would have lessed |
| we | would have lessed |
| you | would have lessed |
| they | would have lessed |
Imperative
| you | less |
| we | Let's less |
| you | less |
Verbs conjugated like 'less'
abash,
abolish,
abroach,
accomplish,
accroach,
address,
admix,
admonish,
ado,
adpress,
affamish,
affix,
alloo,
amass,
ambush,
anguish,
annex,
appeach,
appears,
approach, etc. (List truncated at 20 verbs)
Verbs similar to 'less'
bless,
cess,
fess,
jess,
kess,
lens,
lese,
lest,
liss,
loss,
Synonyms & Antonyms
Additional Information
Phrasal Verbs
Etymology
1. O.E. læs (adv.), læssa (adj.), comp. of læs "small;" from P.Gmc. *laisiz "smaller," from PIE base *loiso- "small" (cf. Lith. liesas "thin"). Formerly also "younger," as a transl. of L. minor, a sense now obs. except in James the Less. Used as a comparative of little, but not related to it. Lesser (1459) is a double comparative, "a barbarous corruption of less, formed by the vulgar from the habit of terminating comparatives in -er." [Johnson]. Lessen "to become less" first attested c.1300.
2. Adverb From Middle English les, lesse, leasse, lasse, from Old English lǣs (“smaller, less”), from Proto-Germanic *laisiz, from Proto-Indo-European *leys- (“to shrink, grow thin, be gentle”). Cognate with Old Frisian lēs (“less”), Old Saxon lēs (“less”). According to Kroonen (2013), from a northern Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *leh₂is- or *leh₃is-, which he connects to Lithuanian liesas (“lean”).
3. Determiner and preposition from Middle English lees, lesse, leasse, lasse, from Old English lǣssa (“less”), from Proto-Germanic *laisizan-, from Proto-Germanic *laisiz (“smaller, lesser, fewer, lower”) (see above). Cognate with Old Frisian lessa (“less”).
4. Verb from Middle English lessen, from the determiner.
5. Noun from Middle English lesse, from the determiner.
Sample Sentences
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1386-90, Gower, Confessio Amantis
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What he will make lesse, he lesseth.
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c. 1650, Patrick Gordon of Ruthven, A short Abridgement of Britane's Distemper, from the yeares of God 1639 to 1649, printed 1844 for the Spalding Club
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Som of the wiser sort, divining upon this vission, attrebute to the pen-knyves the lenth of tym before this should com to pass, and it hath been observed by sindrie that the earles of that hous befor wer the richest in the kingdom, having treasure and store besyde them, but ever since the addittion of this so great a revenue, they have lessed the stock by heavie burdens of debt and ingagment.
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The protracted term of life, and the lingering illness through which this gentleman had passed, had neither impaired the original vigour of his mind, nor lessed the uncommon warmth of his affections. [1816, "Joseph Wharton" [obituary notice], Poulson's Advertiser, quoted in Genealogy of the Wharton Family of Philadelphia: 1664 to 1880, Anne Hollingsworth Wharton (1880)]
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Soon as I lessed the tree of this, it waned — Less cause, gave less effect [1852, Charles Heavysege, The revolt of Tartarus, a poem, page 116:]
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The scattered beauties thro' the air, Have lessed the woe, the dread, the care; [1886, Horace Eaton Walker, The Lady of Dardale and Other Poems, page 74:]