at least

English

Alternative forms

• at the least
• at the very least (emphatic form)

Etymology

From Middle English at leste, from Old English æt lǣstan.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Prepositional phrase

at least

1. (focus) At a minimum or lower limit.

   I couldn't count them all, but I think there must have been at least 500 people in attendance.

   • 1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Three. The Second of the Three Spirits.”, in A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, pages 89–90:

     So Martha hid herself, and in came little Bob [Cratchit], the father, with at least three feet of comforter exclusive of the fringe, hanging down before him; and his thread-bare clothes darned up and brushed, to look seasonable; and Tiny Tim upon his shoulder.

2. In any event; anyway.
   • 1997 May 14, Brian Helgeland, Curtis Hanson, L.A. Confidential, spoken by Sid Hudgens (Danny DeVito), Regency Enterprises; distributed by Warner Bros.:

     You could even be discovered, become a movie star, or at least see one.

Synonyms

• easily
• easy
• leastwise
• ≥

Antonyms

• at most
• at the most
• at the very most

Translations

at a lower limit

• Arabic: عَلَى اَلْأَقَلّ (ʕalā l-ʔaqall)

  Hijazi Arabic: على الأقل (ʕala l-ʔagall)

• Armenian: առնվազն (hy) (aṙnvazn), գոնե (hy) (gone)
• Bashkir: кәмендә (kəmendə), иң кәмендә (iñ kəmendə)
• Basque: gutxienez
• Belarusian: прына́мсі (prynámsi)
• Bengali: please add this translation if you can
• Bulgarian: поне́ (bg) (poné), най-ма́лко (naj-málko)
• Burmese: please add this translation if you can
• Catalan: almenys (ca), pel cap baix (ca)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 至少 (zi³ siu²), 起碼 / 起码 (hei² maa⁵)

  Mandarin: 至少 (zh) (zhìshǎo), 頂少 / 顶少 (dǐngshǎo), 起碼 / 起码 (zh) (qǐmǎ)

  Wu: 至少 (⁵tsy-sau), 起碼 / 起码 (⁵chi-mo)

• Czech: alespoň (cs), přinejmenším (cs), nejméně (cs), při nejmenším, aspoň (cs)
• Danish: mindst (da)
• Dutch: minstens (nl), tenminste (nl), althans (nl), op zijn minst
• Esperanto: minimume, almenaŭ (eo)
• Estonian: vähemalt
• Finnish: ainakin (fi), vähintään (fi)
• French: au moins (fr), au minimum (fr)
• Frisian:

  West Frisian: alteast

• Galician: polo menos, como mínimo, ao menos
• Georgian: როგორც მინიმუმ (rogorc minimum), მინიმუმ (minimum), სულ მცირე (sul mcire), სულ ცოტა (sul coṭa), მაინც (mainc), სხვა თუ არაფერი (sxva tu araperi), არანაკლებ (aranaḳleb), არაუმცირეს (araumcires)
• German: mindestens (de), zumindest (de), wenigstens (de)

  Alemannic German: mindeschtes

• Greek: τουλάχιστον (el) (touláchiston)
• Hebrew: לפחות (he) (lefaxot), לכל הפחות (lekhol hapakhot)
• Hindi: कम से कम (kam se kam)
• Hungarian: legalább (hu), minimum (hu)
• Icelandic: að minnsta kosti (is)
• Ido: adminime (io)
• Indonesian: minimal (id), setidaknya (id)
• Ingrian: ainaki
• Interlingua: al minus
• Irish: ar a laghad
• Italian: almeno (it), per lo meno (it)
• Japanese: せめて (ja) (semete), 少なくとも (ja) (sukunakutomo)
• Khmer: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: 적어도 (ko) (jeogeodo), 최소한(最小限) (ko) (choesohan)
• Lao: please add this translation if you can
• Latin: saltem
• Latvian: vismaz
• Macedonian: барем (barem), најмалку (najmalku)
• Malayalam: എങ്കിലും (eṅkiluṁ)
• Marathi: कमीत कमी (kamīt kamī), निदान (nidān)
• Meänkieli: vähhiinthääns
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: minst (no)

  Nynorsk: minst

• Occitan: almens
• Old English: hūru
• Persian: اقلًا (fa) (aqalan), حداقل (fa) (hadd-e aqall), دست‌کم (dast-e kam)
• Polish: co najmniej (pl), przynajmniej (pl), chociaż (pl), bodaj (pl) (archaic)
• Portuguese: ao menos (pt), pelo menos, sequer (pt)
• Romanian: cel puțin, măcar (ro)
• Russian: по ме́ньшей ме́ре (po ménʹšej mére), по кра́йней ме́ре (ru) (po krájnej mére), хотя́ бы (ru) (xotjá by), как ми́нимум (ru) (kak mínimum)
• Sardinian: assumancu, assunessi, aterunono, cantepennono
• Scottish Gaelic: co-dhiù, aig a' char as lugha
• Serbo-Croatian: barem (sh), bar (sh), makar (sh), najmanje (sh), u najmanju ruku
• Spanish: al menos, por lo menos (es), como mínimo, cuando menos, siquiera (es), a lo menor, no menos de, en todo caso, como poco, a lo menos (es)
• Swedish: åtminstone (sv), i alla fall (sv), i varje fall (sv), minst (sv)
• Thai: อย่างน้อย (yàang nɔ́ɔi)
• Turkish: en az
• Ukrainian: щонайме́нше (ščonajménše), прина́ймні (prynájmni)
• Urdu: کم سے کم (kam se kam)
• Uzbek: kamida (uz)
• Venetan: almancol (vec), almanco (vec)
• Vietnamese: ít nhất (vi), tối thiểu (vi)
• Welsh: o leiaf
• Yiddish: לפּחות (lepokhes)

anyway

• Azerbaijani: barı
• Belarusian: ва ўся́кім вы́падку (va wsjákim výpadku), ва ўся́кім ра́зе (va wsjákim rázje)
• Catalan: tanmateix (ca), almenys (ca)
• Danish: i det mindste
• Dutch: althans (nl), tenminste (nl)
• Finnish: sentään (fi)
• French: du moins (fr), en tout cas (fr)
• Georgian: მაინც (mainc)
• German: immerhin (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: γε (ge)

• Hebrew: כִּכְלוֹת הַכֹּל (kikhlot hakol)
• Hungarian: legalább (hu), legalábbis (hu)
• Icelandic: að minnsta kosti (is)
• Irish: ar aon nós
• Italian: almeno (it), se non altro (it)
• Japanese: とにかく (ja) (tonikaku), 何しろ (ja) (なにしろ, nani shiro)
• Korean: 어쨌든 (ko) (eojjaetdeun)
• Latin: certē
• Latvian: vismaz
• Malayalam: എന്തായാലും (entāyāluṁ), എന്നാലും (ml) (ennāluṁ)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: i alle fall (no), i det minste

  Nynorsk: i alle fall, i det minste, i minsto

• Old English: hūru
• Plautdietsch: weens
• Polish: przynajmniej (pl)
• Portuguese: mesmo assim, ao menos (pt), pelo menos
• Russian: в любо́м слу́чае (ru) (v ljubóm slúčaje)
• Scottish Gaelic: co-dhiù
• Spanish: aun así (es), al menos
• Swedish: i varje fall (sv), hur som helst (sv)
• Turkish: bari (tr)
• Ukrainian: прина́ймні (prynájmni), у вся́кому ра́зі (u vsjákomu rázi), хоча́ би (xočá by)
• Venetan: almanco (vec)

Anagrams

• saltate