little

将“little”与“lit”这个单词的简单形式联系起来，想象你用灯光（lit）照亮了一个小空间（little），这样就能帮助记忆单词“little”的意思是“小的”。

little 小的

来自PIE*leud,弯，转，蜷缩，变小，词源同lout,little.引申词义弱小的，小人物的，后词义通用化。

little

little: [OE] Little goes back to the prehistoric West Germanic base *lut-, which also produced Dutch luttel and may have been the source of the Old English verb lūtan ‘bow down’. Some have detected a link with Old English lot ‘deceit’, Old Norse lýta ‘dishonour, blame’, Russian ludit’ ‘deceive’, and Serbo-Croat lud ‘foolish’.

little (adj.)

Old English lytel "not large, not much; short in distance or time; unimportant," also used in late Old English as a noun, "small piece; a short time," from Proto-Germanic *lutilla- (cognates: Old Saxon luttil, Dutch luttel, Old High German luzzil, German lützel, Gothic leitils "little"), perhaps originally a diminutive of the root of Old English lyt "little, few," from PIE *leud- "small." "Often synonymous with small, but capable of emotional implications which small is not" [OED].

Phrase the little woman "wife" attested from 1795. Little people "the faeries" is from 1726; as "children," it is attested from 1752; as "ordinary people" (opposed to the great), it is attested from 1827. Little Neck clams (1884) are so called for Little Neck, Long Island, a "neck" of land on the island's North Shore. Little by little is from late 15c. (litylle be litille). Little green men "space aliens" is from 1950. Little black dress is from 1939.

At the beginning of summer, smart women who stay in town like to wear sheer "little black dresses." Because most "little black dresses" look alike, retailers struggle each year to find something which will make them seem new. ["Life," June 13, 1939]

Little Orphan Annie originally was (as Little Orphant Annie) the character in James Whitcomb Riley's 1885 poem, originally titled "Elf Child." The U.S. newspaper comic strip created by Harold Gray (1894-1968) debuted in 1924 in the New York "Daily News."

LITTLE Orphant Annie's come to our house to stay,
An' wash the cups an' saucers up, an' brush the crumbs away,
An' shoo the chickens off the porch, an' dust the hearth, an' sweep,
An' make the fire, an' bake the bread, an' earn her board-an'-keep;
An' all us other childern, when the supper-things is done,
We set around the kitchen fire an' has the mostest fun
A-list'nin' to the witch-tales 'at Annie tells about,
An' the Gobble-uns 'at gits you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!

[Riley, "Elf Child"]

little (v.)

OE lytlian, from root of little (adj.).

1. It's not about making the amazing saves. It's the little things and small things that made great gatekeepers great.

伟大的门将不是靠神奇的扑救成就，而是靠注重小事和细节成功。（Tim Howard美国国家队门将）

2. He could just about see the little man behind the counter.

他勉强能看到柜台后面的小个子男人。

3. "I wish I had a little brother," said Daphne wistfully.

“我希望有个小弟弟。”达夫妮伤感地说。

4. Maria was talking baby talk to the little one.

玛丽亚正用儿语和小家伙说话。

5. They were going to sail around the little island, against the tide.

他们打算绕着小岛逆潮航行。

【several, little, few】
这组词都有“少量的”的意思，其区别是：
several: 修饰可数名词的复数形式，指至少有3个，但不会超过5、6个。
little: 只修饰不可数名词，含否定意义。
few: 只修饰可数名词的复数形式，侧重指数量非常少，给人一种模糊概念，含否定意义。

【minute, tiny, little, small, miniature】
这组词都有“小的”的意思，其区别是：
minute: 指小得难看见，有时需用显微镜才看得见。
tiny: 强调与同类或其他物体比较，小得超出正常比例，有时带强烈的感情色彩。
little: 指在体积、数量、距离、年龄、身材等方面比正常的小，多带主观感情色彩，含小而可爱或小巧的意味。
small: 多指数量、面积、体积、价值、数字或意义等的小或少，指略小于正常的大小。
miniature: 指由正常体积微缩的物体。