English edit

Alternative forms edit

Pronunciation edit

  • (UK, US), IPA(key): /lɛz/
    • (file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛz

Noun edit

les (plural leses)

  1. (slang, colloquial, derogatory) Clipping of lesbian.

Adjective edit

les (comparative more les, superlative most les)

  1. (slang, colloquial, derogatory) Clipping of lesbian.

Anagrams edit

Afrikaans edit

Etymology edit

From Dutch les (lesson), from Middle Dutch lesse, from Latin lēctiō.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

les (plural lesse, diminutive lessie)

  1. lesson

Aragonese edit

Etymology edit

From Latin ille (that one).

Pronoun edit

les

  1. them (indirect object)

Synonyms edit

Asturian edit

Etymology edit

From Latin illas.

Article edit

les f pl (masculine sg el, feminine sg la, neuter sg lo, masculine plural los)

  1. (definite) the

Catalan edit

Etymology 1 edit

Inherited from Latin illās, from ille.

Pronunciation edit

Article edit

les f pl (masculine plural els, masculine singular el, feminine singular la)

  1. the; feminine plural definite article

Pronoun edit

les (enclitic and proclitic)

  1. them (feminine, direct object)
Declension edit

Etymology 2 edit

Borrowed from Latin laesus.

Pronunciation edit

Adjective edit

les (feminine lesa, masculine plural lesos, feminine plural leses)

  1. (law) harmed
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit

Further reading edit

Czech edit

 
Czech Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia cs

Etymology edit

Inherited from Old Czech les, from Proto-Slavic *lěsъ.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

les m inan

  1. forest
    Synonym: hvozd

Declension edit

Related terms edit

nouns
adjectives
proverb

Further reading edit

  • les in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
  • les in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989
  • les in Internetová jazyková příručka

Danish edit

Noun edit

les c

  1. indefinite genitive singular of le

Dutch edit

Pronunciation edit

Etymology 1 edit

From Middle Dutch lesse, from Latin lēctiō.

Noun edit

les f (plural lessen, diminutive lesje n)

  1. course, lesson
Derived terms edit
Descendants edit
  • Afrikaans: les
  • Caribbean Javanese: lès
  • Indonesian: les
  • Papiamentu: lès, les

Etymology 2 edit

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb edit

les

  1. inflection of lessen:
    1. first-person singular present indicative
    2. imperative

Anagrams edit

Further reading edit

  • les” in Woordenlijst Nederlandse Taal – Officiële Spelling, Nederlandse Taalunie. [the official spelling word list for the Dutch language]

French edit

Etymology edit

Inherited from Middle French les, from Old French les, from Latin illōs m and illās f which are the accusative plurals of ille.[1]

Pronunciation edit

Article edit

les

  1. plural of le: the
  2. plural of la: the

Usage notes edit

  • de les is never used: contracted into des.
  • à les is never used: contracted into aux.

Pronoun edit

les m pl or f pl

  1. plural of le: them
  2. plural of la: them

Related terms edit

References edit

  1. ^ Dauzat, Albert; Jean Dubois, Henri Mitterand (1964), “le, la, les”, in Nouveau dictionnaire étymologique (in French), Paris: Librairie Larousse

Further reading edit

Anagrams edit

Galician edit

Verb edit

les

  1. second-person singular present indicative of ler

German edit

Pronunciation edit

Verb edit

les

  1. (colloquial) first-person singular present of lesen
    Synonym: (standard) lese
  2. (colloquial) singular imperative of lesen
    Synonym: (standard) lies

Hungarian edit

Etymology edit

From Proto-Ugric *läćɜ (hiding place; lurk).[1][2] Cognates include Southern Mansi [script needed] (lǟš-), Northern Mansi [script needed] (lāś-).

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

les (plural lesek)

  1. cover, hideaway, ambush (the place where one is concealed, in wait to attack by surprise, or the act of concealing oneself there)
    Synonyms: lesállás, leshely
    Hypernyms: búvóhely, rejtekhely, (hiding place in general) rejtek
  2. (hunting) hide, blind
  3. (soccer) offside
    Synonyms: lesállás, leshelyzet

Declension edit

Inflection (stem in -e-, front unrounded harmony)
singular plural
nominative les lesek
accusative lest leseket
dative lesnek leseknek
instrumental lessel lesekkel
causal-final lesért lesekért
translative lessé lesekké
terminative lesig lesekig
essive-formal lesként lesekként
essive-modal
inessive lesben lesekben
superessive lesen leseken
adessive lesnél leseknél
illative lesbe lesekbe
sublative lesre lesekre
allative leshez lesekhez
elative lesből lesekből
delative lesről lesekről
ablative lestől lesektől
non-attributive
possessive - singular
lesé leseké
non-attributive
possessive - plural
leséi lesekéi
Possessive forms of les
possessor single possession multiple possessions
1st person sing. lesem leseim
2nd person sing. lesed leseid
3rd person sing. lese lesei
1st person plural lesünk leseink
2nd person plural lesetek leseitek
3rd person plural lesük leseik

Derived terms edit

Expressions

Verb edit

les

  1. (transitive) to spy, peep, peek, pry
  2. (transitive) to stare, goggle, eye
  3. (transitive, intransitive) to cheat at a test by looking at someone else's work

Conjugation edit

Derived terms edit

(With verbal prefixes):

References edit

  1. ^ Entry #1792 in Uralonet, online Uralic etymological database of the Hungarian Research Centre for Linguistics.
  2. ^ les in Zaicz, Gábor (ed.). Etimológiai szótár: Magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete (‘Dictionary of Etymology: The origin of Hungarian words and affixes’). Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó, 2006, →ISBN.  (See also its 2nd edition.)

Further reading edit

  • (ambush): les in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
  • (to spy): les in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN

Icelandic edit

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

les n (genitive singular less, nominative plural les)

  1. (linguistics) lexeme (set of inflected forms taken by a single word)
  2. (computing) lexeme (individual instance of a continuous character sequence without spaces, used in lexical analysis)

Declension edit

Synonyms edit

Derived terms edit

See also edit

Verb edit

les

  1. first-person singular of lesa (to read)
    Ég les mikið af þýskum bókum.
    I read a lot of German books.
  2. third-person singular of lesa (to read)
    Pálmi les alltaf sömu söguna, þótt hann eigi margar bækur.
    Pálmi always reads the same story, even though he has many books.

Indonesian edit

Etymology 1 edit

From Dutch les (course, lesson), from Middle Dutch lesse, from Latin lēctiō.

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): [ˈlɛs]
  • Hyphenation: lès

Noun edit

lès (first-person possessive lesku, second-person possessive lesmu, third-person possessive lesnya)

  1. (education, colloquial) cram school, private tuition.

Verb edit

lès

  1. (education, colloquial) to cram, to study hard, to learn at cram school.

Etymology 2 edit

From Dutch lis (reed).

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): [ˈlɛs]
  • Hyphenation: lès

Noun edit

lès (first-person possessive lesku, second-person possessive lesmu, third-person possessive lesnya)

  1. rein.

Etymology 3 edit

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): [ˈləs]
  • Hyphenation: lês

Noun edit

lês (first-person possessive lesku, second-person possessive lesmu, third-person possessive lesnya)

  1. alternative spelling of lis

Further reading edit

Interlingua edit

Pronoun edit

les

  1. (dative) to them

Usage notes edit

  • Precedes conjugated verbs.
  • Can be of mixed gender (not just masculine).

Ladin edit

Etymology edit

From Latin illas.

Article edit

les f (plural)

  1. the

See also edit

Middle English edit

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

From Old English lēas (false, void, loose).

Cognate with Middle High German lōs (loose), Old Swedish lø̄s (loose); a doublet of loos.

Pronunciation edit

Adjective edit

les

  1. false; lying; deceptive

Noun edit

les (uncountable)

  1. falsehood; a lie
    • 15th c., “[The Creation]”, in Wakefield Mystery Plays; Re-edited in George England, Alfred W. Pollard, editors, The Towneley Plays (Early English Text Society Extra Series; LXXI), London: [] Oxford University Press, 1897, →OCLC, page 5, lines 120–121:
      He is so fayre, withoutten les, / he semys full well to sytt on des.
      He is so good, without falsehood; / (so) he's really suited to sit on a dais.
    • c. 1480, “The Creation”, in The Towneley Plays, lines 158–159:
      We held with hym ther he saide leasse / And therfor have we all unpeasse.
      We stayed with him when he uttered untruth, / and therefore we all feel discord.
    • c. 1480, “The Creation”, in The Towneley Plays, lines 193–195:
      Ye shall have joye and blis therin / Whils ye will kepe you out of syn, / I say withoutten lese.
      You'll have joy and tranquility within / if you keep yourself out of sin, / I say, without lies.

Middle French edit

Etymology edit

from Old French les, from Latin illōs m and illās f

Article edit

les m pl or f pl (masculine singular le, feminine singular la)

  1. the

Descendants edit

Norman edit

Norman Definite Articles
singular plural
masculine le / l' les
feminine  la / l' les

Pronunciation edit

  • (file)

Article edit

les pl (singular , and la)

  1. Alternative form of l's
    les boutonsthe nipples
    les êpicesthe spices
    les lédgeunmesthe vegetables
    les ridgieauxthe curtains
    • 2013 March, Geraint Jennings, “Mar martello”, in The Town Crier[1], archived from the original on 13 March 2016, page 20:
      Dans les clios étout nou vait des tracteurs et des machinnes tandi qu'lé travas du fèrmyi r'prend san rhythme coumme tréjous.
      In the fields tractors and machines can be seen too as farm work picks up again as always.

Norwegian Bokmål edit

Verb edit

les

  1. imperative of lese

Norwegian Nynorsk edit

Verb edit

les

  1. present tense of lesa
  2. imperative of lesa

Old Czech edit

Etymology edit

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *lěsъ.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

les m inan

  1. forest
    Synonym: hvozd

Declension edit

Descendants edit

Further reading edit

Old French edit

Etymology edit

From Latin illas and illos.

Article edit

les

  1. the (feminine plural oblique definite article)
  2. the (feminine plural nominative definite article)
  3. the (masculine plural oblique definite article)

Inflection edit

Descendants edit

Old Irish edit

Etymology 1 edit

Pronunciation edit

Pronoun edit

les

  1. third-person singular masculine of la
Alternative forms edit

Etymology 2 edit

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

les m

  1. Alternative spelling of less (benefit, advantage)

Mutation edit

Old Irish mutation
Radical Lenition Nasalization
les
also lles after a proclitic
les
pronounced with /l(ʲ)-/
unchanged
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Old Slovak edit

Etymology edit

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *lě̑sъ. First attested in 1386.

Noun edit

les m inan

  1. forest, woods (dense uncultivated tract of trees)

Descendants edit

References edit

  • Majtán, Milan et al., editors (1991–2008), “les”, in Historický slovník slovenského jazyka [Historical Dictionary of the Slovak Language] (in Slovak), volume 1–7 (A – Ž), Bratislava: VEDA, →OCLC

Rohingya edit

Etymology edit

Compare with Bengali লেজ (lej).

Noun edit

les

  1. tail

Romanian edit

Etymology edit

Borrowed from Bulgarian лес (les).

Noun edit

les n (plural lesuri)

  1. (Oltenia) thicket

Declension edit

References edit

  • les in Academia Română, Micul dicționar academic, ediția a II-a, Bucharest: Univers Enciclopedic, 2010. →ISBN

Serbo-Croatian edit

Pronunciation edit

Etymology 1 edit

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *lěsъ (tree, forest).

Alternative forms edit

Noun edit

lȇs m (Cyrillic spelling ле̑с)

  1. coffin
  2. (regionally) lumber
  3. (regionally) forest, woods
Declension edit

Etymology 2 edit

From German Löss.

Noun edit

lȇs m (Cyrillic spelling ле̑с)

  1. (geology) loess

Slovak edit

 
Slovak Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia sk

Etymology edit

Inherited from Old Slovak les, from Proto-Slavic *lěsъ.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

les m inan (genitive singular lesa, nominative plural lesy, genitive plural lesov, declension pattern of dub)

  1. forest

Declension edit


Further reading edit

  • les”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2024

Slovene edit

 
Slovene Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia sl

Etymology edit

From Proto-Slavic *lěsъ.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

lẹ̑s m inan

at v lesu
to v les
from iz lesa
  1. (uncountable) wood
    Synonyms: lesovina, lesnina, lesna snov
  2. (uncommon, uncountable) trees in a forest[→SSKJ]
    Synonyms: drevo, drev
  3. (usually in the plural, archaic or literary) forest, woods
    Synonyms: gozd, boršt, gmajna, gaj, gošča, gozdek, gozdič, gozdiček, gozdni labirint, hosta, lesovje, log, loza, šuma
  4. (Christianity, rare) cross
    Synonyms: križ, krucifiks

Declension edit

First masculine declension (hard o-stem, inanimate, -ov- infix), long mixed accent
nom. sing. lẹ̑s
gen. sing. lesȃ
singular dual plural
nominative
imenovȃlnik
lẹ̑s lesȏva lesȏvi
genitive
rodȋlnik
lesȃ lesóv lesóv
dative
dajȃlnik
lẹ̑su, lẹ̑si lesȏvoma, lesȏvama lesȏvom, lẹ̑sȏvam
accusative
tožȋlnik
lẹ̑s lesȏva lesȏve
locative
mẹ̑stnik
lẹ̑su, lẹ̑si lesȏvih lesȏvih
instrumental
orọ̑dnik
lẹ̑som lesȏvoma, lesȏvama lesȏvi
(vocative)
(ogȏvorni imenovȃlnik)
lẹ̑s lesȏva lesȏvi



  • stylistically marked
First masculine declension (hard o-stem, inanimate), fixed accent
nom. sing. lẹ̑s
gen. sing. lẹ̑sa
singular dual plural
nominative
imenovȃlnik
lẹ̑s lẹ̑sa lẹ̑si
genitive
rodȋlnik
lẹ̑sa lẹ̑sov lẹ̑sov
dative
dajȃlnik
lẹ̑su, lẹ̑si lẹ̑soma, lẹ̑sama lẹ̑som, lẹ̑sam
accusative
tožȋlnik
lẹ̑s lẹ̑sa lẹ̑se
locative
mẹ̑stnik
lẹ̑su, lẹ̑si lẹ̑sih, lẹ̑sah lẹ̑sih, lẹ̑sah
instrumental
orọ̑dnik
lẹ̑som lẹ̑soma, lẹ̑sama lẹ̑si
(vocative)
(ogȏvorni imenovȃlnik)
lẹ̑s lẹ̑sa lẹ̑si


Derived terms edit

Further reading edit

  • les”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran
  • les”, in Termania, Amebis
  • See also the general references

Spanish edit

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /les/ [les]
  • Rhymes: -es
  • Syllabification: les

Etymology 1 edit

Inherited from Latin illīs, dative plural of ille.

Pronoun edit

les

  1. dative of ellos and ellas; to them, for them
  2. dative of ustedes; to you all, for you all (formal)
  3. (gender-neutral, neologism) dative of elles; to them, for them
    Les pedí que por favor hagan silencio.
    I asked them to please be quiet.

See also edit

Etymology 2 edit

Gender-neutral e replaces the gendered endings/elements a and o.

Article edit

les gender-neutral pl

  1. (gender-neutral, neologism) the (plural)
    Les estudiantes están prestando atención a la clase.
    The students are paying attention to the class.

Tok Pisin edit

Etymology edit

From English lazy.

Adjective edit

les

  1. lazy
  2. tired, fed up

Verb edit

les

  1. be lazy
  2. be tired, be fed up

Welsh edit

Pronunciation edit

Etymology 1 edit

Borrowed from English lace.

Noun edit

les f (plural lesau, not mutable)

  1. lace (light fabric patterned with holes)

Etymology 2 edit

Borrowed from Middle English lease, from Anglo-Norman les, from Old French lais, lez (a lease).

Noun edit

les f (plural lesoedd, not mutable)

  1. lease
Alternative forms edit
Derived terms edit

Etymology 3 edit

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun edit

les

  1. Soft mutation of lles.

Further reading edit

  • R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “les”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

Mutation edit

Welsh mutation
radical soft nasal aspirate
lles les unchanged unchanged
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.