les

See also: Appendix:Variations of "les"
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English

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

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

Noun

les (plural leses)

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

Adjective

les (comparative more les, superlative most les)

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

Derived terms

Anagrams

Afrikaans

Etymology

Inherited from Dutch les (“lesson”), from Middle Dutch lesse, from Latin lēctiō.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /lɛs/
  • Audio:(file)

Noun

les (plural lesse, diminutive lessie)

  1. lesson

Aragonese

Etymology

Derived from Latin ille (“that one”).

Pronoun

les

  1. them (indirect object)

Synonyms

Asturian

Alternative forms

Etymology

Inherited from Latin illas.

Article

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

  1. (definite) the

Catalan

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin illās, from ille.

Pronunciation

Article

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

  1. the; feminine plural definite article

Pronoun

les (enclitic and proclitic)

  1. them (feminine, direct object)
Declension
Catalan personal pronouns and clitics
strong/subject weak (direct object) weak (indirect object) possessive
proclitic enclitic proclitic enclitic
singular 1st
person 		standard jo, mi3 em, m’ -me, ’m em, m’ -me, ’m meu
majestic1 nós ens -nos, ’ns ens -nos, ’ns nostre
2nd
person 		standard tu et, t’ -te, ’t et, t’ -te, ’t teu
formal1 vós us -vos, -us us -vos, -us vostre
very formal2 vostè el, l’ -lo, ’l li -li seu
3rd
person 		m ell el, l’ -lo, ’l li -li seu
f ella la, l’4 -la li -li seu
n ho -ho li -li seu
plural
1st person nosaltres ens -nos, ’ns ens -nos, ’ns nostre
2nd
person 		standard vosaltres us -vos, -us us -vos, -us vostre
formal2 vostès els -los, ’ls els -los, ’ls seu
3rd
person 		m ells els -los, ’ls els -los, ’ls seu
f elles les -les els -los, ’ls seu
3rd person reflexive si es, s’ -se, ’s es, s’ -se, ’s seu
adverbial ablative/genitive en, n’ -ne, ’n
locative hi -hi

1 Behaves grammatically as plural.   2 Behaves grammatically as third person.
3 Only as object of a preposition.   4 Not before unstressed (h)i-, (h)u-.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Latin laesus.

Pronunciation

Adjective

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

  1. (law) harmed
Derived terms
  • crim de lesa humanitat

Further reading

Cornish

Etymology 1

Inherited from Proto-Brythonic *lles, from Proto-Celtic *lexstus. Cognate with Welsh lles.

Noun

les m (plural lesow)

  1. advantage, benefit, gain, profit
    Synonym: budh
  2. utility, usefulness, importance, interest
  3. welfare
Derived terms
  • dhe les (“advantageous, useful, interesting”)
  • meur y les (“beneficial”)
  • stat an les (“welfare state”)

Etymology 2

Inherited from Proto-Celtic *lussus (“medicinal herb, vegetable”). Doublet of losow. Cognate with Welsh llys.

Noun

les m (plural lesyow)

  1. plant
    Synonym: losowen
Derived terms
  • les an gog (“marigold”)

Etymology 3

Inherited from Proto-Brythonic *lled, from Proto-Celtic *ɸletos. Cognate with Welsh lled.

Noun

les m (plural lesyow)

  1. width, breadth
Derived terms
  • a-les (“apart”)
  • lesa (“expand”, verb)
  • skollya a-les (“disperse”)
  • yn les (“from side to side”)

Etymology 4

Noun

les f (plural lesow)

  1. alternative form of lys (“court”)

Etymology 5

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Conjunction

les

  1. in case

Czech

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈlɛs]
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: les
  • Rhymes: -ɛs
  • Homophone: lez

Noun

les m inan

  1. forest
    Synonym: hvozd

Declension

Declension of les (hard masculine inanimate)
singular plural
nominative les lesy
genitive lesa lesů
dative lesu lesům
accusative les lesy
vocative lese lesy
locative lese lesích
instrumental lesem lesy
nouns
adjectives
proverb

Further reading

Danish

Noun

les c

  1. indefinite genitive singular of le

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /lɛs/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: les
  • Rhymes: -ɛs

Etymology 1

Inherited from Middle Dutch lesse, from Latin lēctiō.

Noun

les f (plural lessen, diminutive lesje n)

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

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

les

  1. inflection of lessen:
    1. first-person singular present indicative
    2. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
    3. imperative

Anagrams

Further reading

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

Franco-Provençal

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin illās.

Determiner

les f pl

  1. feminine plural of lo (“the”)

Pronoun

les f pl (ORB, broad)

  1. them (third-person plural feminine accusative)
See also
Franco-Provençal personal pronouns
nominative accusative dative tonic1 possessive2
singular 1st person jo mè min
2nd person te tè tin
3rd person masculine il lo / le lui sin
feminine el la lyé
neuter o y —
reflexive — sè
plural 1st person nos noutro
2nd person vos voutro
3rd person masculine ils los / les lor lor
feminine els les lor / lyés
reflexive — sè

1 Disjunctive or object of a preposition.   2 Generally preceded by a definite article.

References

  • les [3] in DicoFranPro: Dictionnaire Français/Francoprovençal – on dicofranpro.llm.umontreal.ca
  • les in Lo trèsor Arpitan – on arpitan.eu

Etymology 2

Determiner

les m pl

  1. alternative form of los, masculine plural of lo (“the”)

Pronoun

les m pl (ORB, broad)

  1. alternative form of los m pl (“them”)

References

  • les in DicoFranPro: Dictionnaire Français/Francoprovençal – on dicofranpro.llm.umontreal.ca
  • les in Lo trèsor Arpitan – on arpitan.eu

French

Etymology

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

  • IPA(key): /lɛ/, (in liaison) /lɛ.z‿/ ~ /le.z‿/
  • IPA(key): /le/, (in liaison) /le.z‿/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Homophones: lé, lés, lez, lait, laits

Article

les

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

Usage notes

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

Pronoun

les m pl or f pl

  1. plural of le: them
  2. plural of la: them
French personal pronouns
number person gender nominative
(subject) 		accusative
(direct complement) 		dative
(indirect complement) 		locative
(at) 		genitive
(of) 		disjunctive
(tonic)1 		emphatic
reflexive 		relative proximal distal
singular first — je, j’ me, m’ — — moi moi-même —
second — tu te, t’ — — toi toi-même —
third masculine il2 le, l’ lui y en lui lui-même celui celui-ci celui-là
feminine elle la, l’ elle elle-même celle celle-ci celle-là
indeterminate on3, l’on (formal), ce4, c’, ça — — — — — — ce ceci cela, ça
reflexive — se, s’5 — — soi soi-même —
plural first — nous nous — — nous nous-mêmes —
second6 — vous vous — — vous vous-mêmes,
vous-même6 		—
third masculine ils7 les leur y en eux7 eux-mêmes7 ceux ceux-ci ceux-là
feminine elles elles elles-mêmes celles celles-ci celles-là

1 The disjunctive (tonic) forms are also used after an explicit preposition (de/d‘, à, pour, chez, dans, vers, sur, sous, ...), instead the accusative, dative, genitive, locative, or reflexive forms, where a preposition is implied.
2 Il is also used as an impersonal nominative-only pronoun.
3 On can also function as a first person plural (although agreeing with third person singular verb forms).
4 The nominal indeterminate form ce (demonstrative) can also be used with the auxiliary verb être as a plural, instead of the proximal or distal gendered forms.
5 The reflexive third person singular forms (se or s’) for accusative or dative are also used as third person plural reflexive.
6 Vous is also used as the polite singular form, in which case the plural disjunctive tonic vous-mêmes becomes singular vous-même.
7 Ils, eux and eux-mêmes are also used when a group has a mixture of masculine and feminine members.

References

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

Further reading

Anagrams

Galician

Verb

les

  1. second-person singular present indicative of ler

German

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /leːs/

Verb

les

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

Hungarian

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈlɛʃ]
  • Audio:(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛʃ

Noun

les (plural lesek)

  2. 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
  3. (hunting) hide, blind
  4. (soccer) offside
    Synonyms: lesállás, leshelyzet

Declension

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

Expressions

Verb

les

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

Conjugation

Conjugation of les
Click for archaic forms 1st person sg 2nd person sg
informal 		3rd person sg,
2nd p. sg formal 		1st person pl 2nd person pl
informal 		3rd person pl,
2nd p. pl formal
indica­tive indica­tive pre­sent indef. lesek lesel les lesünk lestek lesnek
def. lesem lesed lesi lessük lesitek lesik
2nd obj leslek
past indef. lestem lestél lesett lestünk lestetek lestek
def. lestem lested leste lestük lestétek lesték
2nd obj lestelek
future
Future is expressed with a present-tense verb with a completion-marking prefix and/or a time adverb, or—more explicitly—with the infinitive plus the conjugated auxiliary verb fog, e.g. lesni fog.
archaic
preterite 		indef. lesék lesél lese lesénk lesétek lesének
def. lesém leséd lesé lesénk lesétek lesék
2nd obj lesélek
archaic past Two additional past tenses: the present and the (current) past forms followed by vala (volt), e.g. les vala, lesett vala/volt.
archaic future indef. lesendek lesendesz lesend lesendünk lesendetek lesendenek
def. lesendem lesended lesendi lesendjük lesenditek lesendik
2nd obj lesendelek
condi­tional pre­sent indef. lesnék lesnél lesne lesnénk lesnétek lesnének
def. lesném lesnéd lesné lesnénk
(or lesnők) 		lesnétek lesnék
2nd obj lesnélek
past Indicative past forms followed by volna, e.g. lesett volna
sub­junc­tive sub­junc­tive pre­sent indef. lessek less or
lessél 		lessen lessünk lessetek lessenek
def. lessem lesd or
lessed 		lesse lessük lessétek lessék
2nd obj lesselek
(archaic) past Indicative past forms followed by légyen, e.g. lesett légyen
infinitive lesni lesnem lesned lesnie lesnünk lesnetek lesniük
other
forms 		verbal noun present part. past part. future part. adverbial participle causative
lesés leső lesett lesendő lesve (lesvén)
The archaic passive conjugation had the same -(t)at/-(t)et suffix as the causative, followed by -ik in the 3rd-person singular
(and the concomitant changes in conditional and subjunctive mostly in the 1st- and 3rd-person singular like with other traditional -ik verbs).
Potential conjugation of les
Click for archaic forms 1st person sg 2nd person sg
informal 		3rd person sg,
2nd p. sg formal 		1st person pl 2nd person pl
informal 		3rd person pl,
2nd p. pl formal
indica­tive indica­tive pre­sent indef. leshetek leshetsz leshet leshetünk leshettek leshetnek
def. leshetem lesheted lesheti leshetjük leshetitek leshetik
2nd obj leshetlek
past indef. leshettem leshettél leshetett leshettünk leshettetek leshettek
def. leshettem leshetted leshette leshettük leshettétek leshették
2nd obj leshettelek
archaic
preterite 		indef. lesheték leshetél leshete lesheténk leshetétek leshetének
def. leshetém leshetéd lesheté lesheténk leshetétek lesheték
2nd obj leshetélek
archaic past Two additional past tenses: the present and the (current) past forms followed by vala (volt), e.g. leshet vala, leshetett vala/volt.
archaic future indef. leshetendek
or lesandhatok 		leshetendesz
or lesandhatsz 		leshetend
or lesandhat 		leshetendünk
or lesandhatunk 		leshetendetek
or lesandhattok 		leshetendenek
or lesandhatnak
def. leshetendem
or lesandhatom 		leshetended
or lesandhatod 		leshetendi
or lesandhatja 		leshetendjük
or lesandhatjuk 		leshetenditek
or lesandhatjátok 		leshetendik
or lesandhatják
2nd obj leshetendelek
or lesandhatlak
condi­tional pre­sent indef. leshetnék leshetnél leshetne leshetnénk leshetnétek leshetnének
def. leshetném leshetnéd leshetné leshetnénk
(or leshetnők) 		leshetnétek leshetnék
2nd obj leshetnélek
past Indicative past forms followed by volna, e.g. leshetett volna
sub­junc­tive sub­junc­tive pre­sent indef. leshessek leshess or
leshessél 		leshessen leshessünk leshessetek leshessenek
def. leshessem leshesd or
leshessed 		leshesse leshessük leshessétek leshessék
2nd obj leshesselek
(archaic) past Indicative past forms followed by légyen, e.g. leshetett légyen
infinitive (leshetni) (leshetnem) (leshetned) (leshetnie) (leshetnünk) (leshetnetek) (leshetniük)
other
forms 		positive adjective negative adjective adverbial participle
leshető leshetetlen (leshetve / leshetvén)

Derived terms

  • leselkedik
  • lesés

(With verbal prefixes):

References

  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

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

Icelandic

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /lɛːs/
  • Rhymes: -ɛːs

Etymology 1

Noun

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
Declension of les (neuter)
singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative les lesið les lesin
accusative les lesið les lesin
dative lesi lesinu lesum lesunum
genitive less lessins lesa lesanna
Synonyms
Derived terms
  • lesgreining
  • lesgreinir
See also
  • tóki

Etymology 2

Verb

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

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Dutch les (“course, lesson”), from Middle Dutch lesse, from Latin lēctiō.

Pronunciation

Noun

lès (plural les-les)

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

Verb

lès

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

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Dutch lis (“reed”).

Pronunciation

Noun

lès (plural les-les)

  1. rein

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

  • (Standard Indonesian) IPA(key): /ˈləs/ [ˈləs]
  • Rhymes: -əs
  • Syllabification: les (Can we verify(+) this pronunciation?)

Noun

lês (plural les-les)

  1. alternative form of lis

Further reading

Interlingua

Pronoun

les

  1. (dative) to them

Usage notes

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

Ladin

Etymology

Inherited from Latin illas.

Article

les f (plural)

  1. the

See also

Ladino

Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish les, from Latin illīs, dative plural of ille.

Pronoun

les m or f by sense (Hebrew spelling ליס)[1]

  1. dative of eyos and eyas; (to) them, (for) them [ca. 1510[2]]
    • 19th century, Sa'adi Besalel a-Levi, chapter 42, in Aron Rodrigue, Sarah Abrevaya Stein, editors, A Jewish Voice from Ottoman Salonica: The Ladino Memoir of Sa'adi Besalel A-Levi‎[1], Stanford University Press, published 2012, →ISBN, page 290:
      Los fraguadores les vino kolay de tomar todas las pyedras de ensima los muertos, syendo estas kevuroth eran de los primeros djidyos ke vinyeron de la Espanya.
      It came easy for the builders to take all the dead's tombstones, being that these graves belonged to the first Jews who came from Spain.

References

  1. ^ “les”, in Trezoro de la Lengua Djudeoespanyola [Treasure of the Judeo-Spanish Language] (in Ladino, Hebrew, and English), Instituto Maale Adumim
  2. ^ Dov Cohen and Ora (Rodrigue) Schwarzwald (19 June 2019) “Coṃpendio delas šeḥiṭót (Constantinople ca. 1510): The First Judeo-Spanish Printed Publication”, in Journal of Jewish Languages, volume 7, number 1, Leiden: Koninklijke Brill NV, →DOI, →ISSN, pages 48, 50

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Inherited from Old English lēas (“false, void, loose”).

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

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /lɛːs/

Adjective

les

  1. false; lying; deceptive

Noun

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

Etymology

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

Article

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

  1. the

Descendants

Norman

Pronunciation

Article

les pl (singular lé, and la)

  1. alternative form of l's
    les boutons ― the nipples
    les êpices ― the spices
    les lédgeunmes ― the vegetables
    les ridgieaux ― the curtains
    • 2013 March, Geraint Jennings, “Mar martello”, in The Town Crier‎[2], 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.

Inflection

Norman definite articles
singular plural
masculine le / l' les
feminine la / l' les

Norwegian Bokmål

Verb

les

  1. imperative of lese

Norwegian Nynorsk

Verb

les

  1. present tense of lesa
  2. imperative of lesa

Old Czech

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *lěsъ.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): (13th CE) /ˈlɛs/
  • IPA(key): (15th CE) /ˈlɛs/

Noun

les m inan

  1. forest
    Synonym: hvozd

Declension

Declension of les (hard o-stem)
singular dual plural
nominative les lesy lesi, lesové
genitive lesa, lesu lesú lesóv
dative lesu lesoma lesóm
accusative les lesy lesy
vocative lese lesy lesi, lesové
locative lesě, lesu lesú lesiech
instrumental lesem lesoma lesy
This table shows the most common forms around the 13th century.
See also Appendix:Old Czech nouns and Appendix:Old Czech pronunciation.

Descendants

Further reading

Old French

Etymology

Inherited from Latin illas and illos.

Article

les

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

Inflection

Old French definite articles
Case masculine feminine
singular subject li la, le 1
oblique le 1 la 1
plural subject li les
oblique les les

1 These singular forms elide to l' before a vowel or non-aspirate h.

Descendants

Old Irish

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [lʲesʲ]

Pronoun

les (emphatic lessom)

  1. third-person singular masculine of la
Alternative forms

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [l͈ʲes]

Noun

les m

  1. alternative spelling of less (“benefit, advantage”)

Mutation

Mutation of les
radical lenition nasalization
les
also lles in h-prothesis environments		 les
pronounced with /lʲ-/		 les
also lles

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Old Slovak

Etymology

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

Noun

les m inan

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

Descendants

References

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

Old Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Latin illīs, dative plural of ille.

Pronoun

les m or f by sense

  1. dative of ellos and ellas; (to) them; (for) them
    • c. 1200, Almerich, Fazienda de Ultramar, f. 2v:
      eſtos angeles cõ q fablo abraã. vinieron a ſodoma e loth ſedia ala puerta dela cibdat. e violos e leuátos cótra elló. e omillos troa la tierra. e dixo les priego uos mios ſẽnores. Q̃ uẽgades acaſa de ur̃o ſieruo albergar.
      These angels to whom Abraham spoke came to Sodom, and Lot was at the city's gate. And he saw them and he got up to greet them and groveled with his face to the ground. And he said, “I beg you, my lords, come spend the night at your servant's house.”

Descendants

  • Ladino: les, ליס
  • Spanish: les

References

  • Ralph Steele Boggs et al. (1946) “les”, in Tentative Dictionary of Medieval Spanish, volume II, Chapel Hill, page 303

Rohingya

Etymology

Compare with Bengali লেজ (lej).

Noun

les

  1. tail

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Bulgarian лес (les).

Noun

les n (plural lesuri)

  1. (Oltenia) thicket

Declension

Declension of les
singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative-accusative les lesul lesuri lesurile
genitive-dative les lesului lesuri lesurilor
vocative lesule lesurilor

References

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

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /lêːs/

Etymology 1

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

Alternative forms

Noun

lȇs m inan (Cyrillic spelling ле̑с)

  1. coffin
  2. (regional) lumber
  3. (regional) forest, woods
Declension
Declension of les
singular plural
nominative lȇs lésovi
genitive lesa lésōvā
dative lesu lesovima
accusative les lesove
vocative lese lesovi
locative lesu lesovima
instrumental lesom lesovima

Etymology 2

Borrowed from German Löss.

Noun

lȇs m inan (Cyrillic spelling ле̑с)

  1. (geology) loess

Slovak

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ʎes]
  • Audio:(file)

Noun

les m inan (relational adjective lesný, diminutive lesík or lesíček, augmentative lesisko)

  1. forest, woods

Declension

Declension of les
(pattern dub)
singularplural
nominativeleslesy
genitivelesalesov
dativelesulesom
accusativeleslesy
locativeleselesoch
instrumentallesomlesmi

Further reading

  • “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, 2003–2025

Slovene

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *lěsъ.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /léːs/
  • Rhymes: -eːs
  • Hyphenation: les

Noun

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

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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



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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

  • biti čez les
  • biti iz drugačnega lesa
  • biti malo čez les
  • biti v lesu
  • blagoslovjeni les
  • božji les
  • celulozni les
  • črni les
  • dišeči les
  • gadov les
  • jamski les
  • kačji les
  • les dela
  • les na panju
  • lesẹ̑n
  • lẹ̄sən
  • lesenẹ́ti
  • lesnīna
  • nedeljni les
  • nedeljski les
  • okrogli les
  • olesenẹ́ti
  • pasji les
  • popotni les
  • pozni les
  • rastni les
  • rodni les
  • sladki les
  • stoječi les
  • tehnični les
  • vezani les
  • volčji les
  • zlesenẹ́ti

Further reading

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

Spanish

Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Spanish les, from Latin illīs, dative plural of ille.

Pronoun

les

  1. dative of ellos and ellas; to them, for them
    Los chicos están hambrientos, les llevaré algo de comer.
    The boys are hungry, I'll bring them something to eat.
  2. dative of ustedes; to you all, for you all (formal)
    Hijas, ¿quieren que les compre algo de la tienda?
    Daughters, do you want me to buy you all anything from the store?
  3. (leísmo, dialectal) accusative of ustedes; you all (formal)
    Synonyms: los, las
    ¿Necesitan que [yo] les ayude en algo?
    Do you need me to help you all with anything?
  4. (leísmo, dialectal, proscribed except in impersonal sentences with "se") accusative of ellos and ellas; them
    Synonyms: lo, la
    Se les considera unos tontos. [non-proscribed]
    They consider them fools.
    Ayer les vi cenando en un restaurante. [proscribed]
    Yesterday I saw them dining at a restaurant.
  5. (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

Spanish personal pronouns
Nominative Disjunctive Accusative Dative Comitative
First-person Singular yo mí me conmigo
Plural Masculine1 nosotros nos —
Feminine nosotras
Second-person Singular Tuteo tú tí te contigo
Voseo vos —
Formal2 Masculine1 usted le, se3 lo
Feminine la
Plural Familiar4 Masculine1 vosotros os
Feminine vosotras
Formal/general2 Masculine1 ustedes les, se3 los
Feminine las
Third-person Singular Masculine1 él le, se3 lo
Feminine ella la
Neuter ello5 lo
Plural Masculine1 ellos les, se3 los
Feminine ellas las
Reflexive — sí se consigo
  1. Like other masculine words, masculine pronouns can be used when the gender of the subject is unknown or when the subject is plural and of mixed gender.
  2. Treated as if it were third person for purposes of conjugation and reflexivity.
  3. If le or les precedes lo, la, los, or las in a clause, it is replaced with se (e.g. se lo dije instead of *le lo dije).
  4. Used primarily in Spain.
  5. Used only in rare circumstances.

Etymology 2

The gender-neutral suffix -e replaces the gendered suffixes -a and -o.

Article

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.

Further reading

Tok Pisin

Etymology

Derived from English lazy.

Adjective

les

  1. lazy
  2. tired, fed up

Verb

les

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

Welsh

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /leːs/
  • Rhymes: -eːs

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English lace.

Noun

les f (plural lesau, not mutable)

  1. lace (light fabric patterned with holes)

Etymology 2

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

Noun

les f (plural lesoedd, not mutable)

  1. lease
Alternative forms
Derived terms

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

les

  1. soft mutation of lles

Further reading

  • 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

Mutated forms of lles
radical soft nasal aspirate
lles les unchanged unchanged

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

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