les

See also: Appendix:Variations of "les"

Languages (41)

Translingual • English

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Page categories

Translingual

Etymology

Clipping of English Lese.

Symbol

les

1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Lese.

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Lese terms

English

Etymology 1

Verb

les

1. (colloquial) Pronunciation spelling of let's

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

• lez

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɛz/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Audio (Australia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛz

Adjective

les (comparative more les, superlative most les)

1. (slang, sometimes derogatory) Clipping of lesbian.
   • 2020, Valens, Anna, Tumblr Porn, New York: Instar Books, →ISBN, →ISBN:

     Her posts would frequently feature her as a half-naked giantess, complete with her deliciously soft belly and bare breasts. Some of her photos would have her feminine penis in view, nonchalantly exposed against her thighs. It was beautiful, unquestionably les, and an incredibly rare opportunity for me (then pre-transition) to see how hormone replacement therapy feminized trans women’s bodies.

Noun

les (plural leses)

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

Derived terms

• lesbro
• lesdar
• lesfic

Anagrams

• SEL, SLE, Els, ELs, LSE, els, ELS, ESL

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

Ahtna

Stem

les

1. Verbal stem occurring in the following root, aspect, and mode combinations:

Aspect	Imperfective	Perfective	Future	Optative
Momentaneous			lets (urinate) laets (boil)
Customary	lets (urinate) laets (boil)	lets (urinate) laets (boil)	lets (urinate) laets (boil)	lets (urinate) laets (boil)

Aragonese

Etymology

Derived from Latin ille (“that one”).

Pronoun

les

1. them (indirect object)

Synonyms

• lis

Asturian

Alternative forms

• lles (archaic)

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

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /ləs/ [ɫəs̺], (before voiced sound or vowel) /ləz/
• (Valencia) IPA^(key): /les/, (before voiced sound or vowel) /lez/
• Rhymes: -es

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

number	person		nominative	proclitic		enclitic		possessive
				accusative	dative	accusative	dative
singular	1st	standard	jo, mi3	em, m’		-me, ’m		meu
		majestic1	nós	ens		-nos, ’ns		nostre
	2nd	standard	tu	et, t’		-te, ’t		teu
		formal1	vós	us		-vos, -us		vostre
		very formal2	vostè	el, l’	li	-lo, ’l	-li	seu
	3rd	m	ell	el, l’	li	-lo, ’l	-li	seu
		f	ella	la, l’4	li	-la	-li	seu
		n	―	ho	li	-ho	-li	seu
plural
	1st		nosaltres	ens		-nos, ’ns		nostre
	2nd	standard	vosaltres	us		-vos, -us		vostre
		formal2	vostès	els		-los, ’ls		seu
	3rd	m	ells	els		-los, ’ls		seu
		f	elles	les	els	-les	-los, ’ls	seu
3rd reflexive			si	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

Learned borrowing from Latin laesus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern) [ˈle̞s]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ˈləs]
• IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈlɛs]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia, Northwestern) [ˈles]

Adjective

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

1. (law) harmed

Derived terms

• crim de lesa humanitat

Related terms

• il·lès

Further reading

• “les”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

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

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *leh₁s-u-der.?

Proto-Slavic *lěsъ

Old Czech les

Czech les

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

Related terms

nouns

• lesačka
• lesař
• lesák
• lesník
• lesňák

adjectives

• lesnatý
• lesní

proverbs

• jak se do lesa volá, tak se z lesa ozývá
• když se kácí les, létají třísky

Further reading

• “les”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “les”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “les”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2026

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

• aardrijkskundeles
• acteerles
• avondles
• bijles
• dansles
• geschiedenisles
• gitaarles
• gymles
• gymnastiekles
• lesauto
• lesgeven
• leslokaal
• lesplan
• lesrooster
• lessen
• lesuur
• paardrijles
• rijles
• schoolles
• toneelles
• wiskundeles
• yogales
• zangles
• zwemles

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

• els

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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɛ/, (in liaison) /lɛ.z‿/ ~ /le.z‿/
• IPA^(key): /le/, (in liaison) /le.z‿/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (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

Related terms

French personal pronouns

number	person	gender	nominative (subject)	accusative (direct complement)	dative (indirect complement)	locative (at)	genitive (of)	disjunctive (tonic)1	emphatic reflexive
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
		feminine	elle	la, l’				elle	elle-même
		indeterminate	on3, l’on (formal), ce4, c’, 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
		feminine	elles					elles	elles-mêmes

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.

Further reading

• “les”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Anagrams

• sel

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”). Cognates include Southern Mansi [script needed] (lǟš-), Northern Mansi лāщуӈкв (lāśuňkv, “to ambush, to waylay, to lie in wait, to wait for something”).

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

• lesben áll

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

• átles
• beleles
• beles
• elles
• felles
• hátrales
• keresztülles
• kiles
• leles
• megles
• ráles

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): [ˈlɛːs]
• 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

• (lexeme): flettiorð

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

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈlɛs/ [ˈlɛs]
• Rhymes: -ɛs
• Syllabification: les

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

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈlɛs/ [ˈlɛs]
• Rhymes: -ɛs
• Syllabification: les

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

• “les”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

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

• l
• la, l'
• i

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. dative of eyos and eyas; (to) them, (for) them [ca. 1510]
   • 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.

Mauritian Creole

Etymology

From French l'est.

Noun

les

1. east

References

• Baker, Philip; Hookoomsing, Vinesh Y. (1987), Diksiyoner kreol morisyeṅ [Mauritian Creole Dictionary] (in French and English), Paris: L'Harmattan, →ISBN, page 200
• Carpooran, Arnaud (2011), Diksioner Morisien [Mauritian Dictionary] (in Mauritian Creole), second edition, Éditions Le Printemps, →ISBN, page 628

Middle English

Etymology 1

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

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

Alternative forms

• lese, lees, leas, leasse

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.

Etymology 2

Verb

les

1. (Late Middle English) alternative form of lesen (“to lose”)

Etymology 3

From Old English lǣs, from Proto-Germanic *laisiz (“smaller, lesser, fewer, lower”).

Alternative forms

• lesse

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɛs/, /lɛːs/

Adverb

les

1. less

Descendants

• English: less
• Yola: lhose, lass

References

• “lē̆s(se, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

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

• French: les

Norman

Pronunciation

• Audio (Jersey):

  (file)

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

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *leh₁s-u-der.?

Proto-Slavic *lěsъ

Old Czech les

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *lěsъ.

Pronunciation

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

Descendants

• Czech: les

Further reading

• Jan Gebauer (1903–1916), “les”, in Slovník staročeský (in Czech), Prague: Česká grafická společnost "unie", Česká akademie císaře Františka Josefa pro vědy, slovesnost a umění

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

• Middle French: les
  • French: les

Old Irish

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈl̠ʲesʲ/

Pronoun

les (emphatic lessom)

1. third-person singular masculine of la

Alternative forms

• less, letha

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈl̠ʲes/

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

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *leh₁s-u-der.?

Proto-Slavic *lě̑sъ

Old Slovak les

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

Noun

les m inan

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

Descendants

• Pannonian Rusyn: лєс (ljes)
• Slovak: les

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 leuãtos cõtra ellõ. e omillos troa la tierra. e dixo les priego uos mios ſẽnores. Q̃ uẽgades acaſa de ur̃o ſieruo albergar.

     [Estos angeles con que fabló Abraam vinieron a Sodoma, e Loth sedía a la puerta de la cibdat. E vio-los e levantó-s contra ellos, e omilló-s troa la tierra. E dixo-les, “Priego-vos míos sennores, que vengades a casa de vuestro siervo 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

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *leh₁s-u-der.?

Proto-Slavic *lěsъ

Old Church Slavonic лѣсъ (lěsŭ)

Bulgarian лес (les)bor.

Romanian les

Borrowed from Bulgarian лес (les).

Noun

les n (plural lesuri)

1. (Oltenia) thicket

Declension

	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

• lijȇs (Ijekavian)

Noun

lȇs m inan (Cyrillic spelling ле̑с) (Ekavian)

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

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *leh₁s-u-der.?

Proto-Slavic *lě̑sъ

Old Slovak les

Slovak les

Inherited from Old Slovak les, from Proto-Slavic *lě̑sъ. First attested in the 14th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʎes/, (high register) [ˈʎes], (common) [ˈles]
• Rhymes: -es

• Audio (Bratislava):

  (file)

Noun

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

1. forest, woods

Declension

Declension of les
(pattern dub)

	singular	plural
nominative	les	lesy
genitive	lesa	lesov
dative	lesu	lesom
accusative	les	lesy
locative	lese	lesoch
instrumental	lesom	lesmi

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, 2003–2026

Slovene

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *lěsъ. First attested in the 10th century.

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

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

• 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: los, las

   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

number	person			Nominative	Disjunctive	Dative	Accusative	Comitative
singular	1st			yo	mí	me		conmigo
	2nd	fam.		tú1, vos2	ti1, vos2	te		contigo
		m	for.	usted		le, se4	lo	—
		f					la
	3rd	m		él		le, se4	lo
		f		ella			la
		n		ello6			lo
plural	1st	m		nosotros		nos
		f		nosotras
	2nd	m	fam.5	vosotros		os
		f		vosotras
		m	for.	ustedes		les, se4	los
		f					las
	3rd	m		ellos		les, se4	los
		f		ellas			las
Reflexive				—	sí	se		consigo

1. Tuteo
2. Voseo
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. Only used in certain circumstances and rarely as a subject pronoun.

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

• “le”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025
• “leísmo”, in Diccionario panhispánico de dudas [Pan-Hispanic Dictionary of Doubts] (in Spanish), 2nd edition, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española]; Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2023, →ISBN

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

Vietnamese

Etymology

Clipping of lesbian.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [lɛt̚˧˦]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [lɛt̚˦˧˥]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [lɛk̚˦˥]
• Phonetic spelling: lét

Adjective

les

1. lesbian

Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /leːs/
• Rhymes: -eːs

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English lace.

Noun

les f (not mutable, plural lesau)

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 (not mutable, plural lesoedd)

1. lease

Alternative forms

• lês (obsolete)

Derived terms

• lesddeiliad (“leaseholder”)

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.