les

See also: Appendix:Variations of "les"

English

Alternative forms

• lez

Pronunciation

• (UK, US), IPA^(key): /lɛz/

  • Audio (UK)

    (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.

Anagrams

• ELs, ESL, LSE, SEL, SLE, els

Afrikaans

Etymology

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

From Latin ille (“that one”).

Pronoun

les

1. them (indirect object)

Synonyms

• lis

Asturian

Etymology

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/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /les/
• 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

	strong/subject	weak (direct object)		weak (indirect object)		possessive
singular		proclitic	enclitic	proclitic	enclitic
1st person	jo, mi3	em, m’	-me, ’m	em, m’	-me, ’m	meu
1st person majestic1	nós	ens	-nos, ’ns	ens	-nos, ’ns	nostre
2nd person	tu	et, t’	-te, ’t	et, t’	-te, ’t	teu
2nd person formal1	vós	us	-vos, -us	us	-vos, -us	vostre
2nd person very formal2	vostè	el, l’	-lo, ’l	li	-li	seu
3rd person masculine	ell	el, l’	-lo, ’l	li	-li	seu
3rd person feminine	ella	la, l’4	-la	li	-li	seu
3rd person neuter		ho	-ho	li	-li	seu
3rd person reflexive	si	es, s’	-se, ’s	es, s’	-se, ’s	seu
plural
1st person	nosaltres	ens	-nos, ’ns	ens	-nos, ’ns	nostre
2nd person	vosaltres	us	-vos, -us	us	-vos, -us	vostre
2nd person formal2	vostès	els	-los, ’ls	els	-los, ’ls	seu
3rd person masculine	ells	els	-los, ’ls	els	-los, ’ls	seu
3rd person feminine	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

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /ˈləs/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /ˈlɛs/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /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, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

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

Related terms

nouns

• lesačka
• lesař
• lesák
• lesník
• lesňák

 

adjectives

• lesnatý
• lesní

 

proverb

• jak se do lesa volá, tak se z lesa ozývá

 

Further reading

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

Danish

Noun

les c

1. indefinite genitive singular of le

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɛs/

• audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: les
• Rhymes: -ɛs

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch lesse, from Latin lēctiō.

Noun

les f (plural lessen, diminutive lesje n)

1. course, lesson

Derived terms

• acteerles
• avondles
• bijles
• gymles
• gymnastiekles
• lesgeven
• leslokaal
• lesplan
• lesrooster
• lessen
• lesuur
• paardrijles
• rijles
• schoolles
• 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. first-person singular present indicative of lessen
2. imperative of lessen

Anagrams

• els

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‿/, (in liaison) /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

Related terms

French personal pronouns

Number	Person	Gender	Nominative (subject)	Accusative (direct complement)	Dative (indirect complement)	Locative (at)	Genitive (of)	Disjunctive (tonic)
Singular	First	—	je, j’	me, m’		—	—	moi
	Second	—	tu	te, t’		—	—	toi
	Third	Masculine	il	le, l’	lui	y	en	lui
		Feminine	elle	la, l’				elle
		Indeterminate	on1	—	—	—	—	—
		Reflexive	—	se, s’4		—	—	soi4
Plural	First	—	nous	nous		—	—	nous
	Second	—	vous2	vous2,3		—	—	vous2
	Third	Masculine	ils3	les	leur	y	en	eux3
		Feminine	elles					elles

¹ Also used as the first person plural.

² Also used as the polite singular form.

³ Also used when a group has both men and women.

⁴ Also used as third person plural reflexive.

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

From Proto-Ugric *läćɜ (“hiding place; lurk”). 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

Verb

les

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

Conjugation

conjugation of les

			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 mood	Pre­sent	Indef.	lesek	lesel	les	lesünk	lestek	lesnek
		Def.	lesem	lesed	lesi	lessük	lesitek	lesik
		2nd-p. o.	leslek	―
	Past	Indef.	lestem	lestél	lesett	lestünk	lestetek	lestek
		Def.	lestem	lested	leste	lestük	lestétek	lesték
		2nd-p. o.	lestelek	―
Condi­tional mood	Pre­sent	Indef.	lesnék	lesnél	lesne	lesnénk	lesnétek	lesnének
		Def.	lesném	lesnéd	lesné	lesnénk (or lesnők)	lesnétek	lesnék
		2nd-p. o.	lesnélek	―
Sub­junc­tive mood	Pre­sent	Indef.	lessek	less or lessél	lessen	lessünk	lessetek	lessenek
		Def.	lessem	lesd or lessed	lesse	lessük	lessétek	lessék
		2nd-p. o.	lesselek	―
Infinitive	lesni		lesnem	lesned	lesnie	lesnünk	lesnetek	lesniük
Other nonfinite verb forms			Verbal noun	Present participle	Past participle	Future part.	Adverbial part.	Potential
			lesés	leső	lesett	lesendő	lesve	leshet

Derived terms

• leselkedik
• lesés

 

(With verbal prefixes):

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

Further reading

• (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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɛːs/
• Rhymes: -ɛːs

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

n-s	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

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

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

Pronunciation

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

Noun

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

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

Verb

lès

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

Etymology 2

From Dutch lis (“reed”).

Pronunciation

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

Noun

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

1. rein.

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

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

Noun

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

1. alternative spelling of lis

Further reading

• “les” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Language Development and Fostering Agency — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.

Interlingua

Pronoun

les

1. (dative) to them

Usage notes

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

Ladin

Etymology

From Latin illas.

Article

les f (plural)

1. the

See also

• l
• la, l'
• i

Middle English

Alternative forms

• lese, lees, leas, leasse

Etymology

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

   • c. 1480, “The Creation”, in The Towneley Plays, line 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, line 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, line 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

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

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

Pronunciation

• Audio (Jersey)

  (file)

Article

les pl (singular lé, and la)

1. Alternative form of l's
   • 2013 March 1, Geraint Jennings, “Mar martello”, in The Town Crier‎^[1], 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.

   les boutons ― the nipples

   les êpices ― the spices

   les lédgeunmes ― the vegetables

   les ridgieaux ― the curtains

Norwegian Bokmål

Verb

les

1. imperative of lese

Norwegian Nynorsk

Verb

les

1. present tense of lesa
2. imperative of lesa

Old Czech

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *lěsъ.

Noun

les m

1. forest

   Synonym: hvozd

Declension

Declension (pattern dub)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	les	lesa, lesy	lesi, lesové (lesoví), lesy
genitive	lesa, lesu	lesú (lesou)	lesóv (lesuov, lesů), les
dative	lesu, lesovi	lesoma, lesama	lesóm (lesuom, lesům)
accusative	les, lesa	lesa, lesy	lesy
vocative	lese	lesa, lesy	lesi, lesové (lesoví), lesy
locative	lesě (lese), lesu, lesovi	lesú (lesou)	lesiech (lesích), lesech, lesách
instrumental	lesem	lesoma, lesama	lesy, lesmi, lesami

Descendants

• Czech: les

Further reading

• “les”, in Vokabulář webový: webové hnízdo pramenů k poznání historické češtiny [online], Praha: Ústav pro jazyk český AV ČR, 2006–2023

Old French

Etymology

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

Declension of the definite article le

	singular		plural
	masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine
nominative	li	la, le 1	li	les
oblique	le 1	la 1	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): [lʲesʲ]

Pronoun

les

1. third-person singular masculine of la

Alternative forms

• less

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [l͈ʲes]

Noun

les m

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

Mutation

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.

Rohingya

Etymology

From Bengali.

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 articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) les	lesul	(niște) lesuri	lesurile
genitive/dative	(unui) les	lesului	(unor) 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

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

Alternative forms

• (Ijekavian) lijȇs

Noun

lȇs m (Cyrillic spelling ле̑с)

1. coffin
2. (regionally) lumber
3. (regionally) 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

From German Löss.

Noun

lȇs m (Cyrillic spelling ле̑с)

1. (geology) loess

Slovak

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *lěsъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɛs/

Noun

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

1. forest

Declension

Declension of les

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

Further reading

• les in Slovak dictionaries at slovnik.juls.savba.sk

Slovene

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *lěsъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /léːs/

Noun

lẹ̑s m inan

1. wood

Inflection

Masculine inan., hard o-stem, mobile accent, plural in -ôv-
nom. sing.	lés
gen. sing.	lesá
	singular	dual	plural
nominative (imenovȃlnik)	lés	lesôva	lesôvi
genitive (rodȋlnik)	lesá	lesôv	lesôv
dative (dajȃlnik)	lésu	lesôvoma	lesôvom
accusative (tožȋlnik)	lés	lesôva	lesôve
locative (mẹ̑stnik)	lésu	lesôvih	lesôvih
instrumental (orọ̑dnik)	lésom	lesôvoma	lesôvi

Masculine inan., hard o-stem
nom. sing.	lés
gen. sing.	lésa
	singular	dual	plural
nominative (imenovȃlnik)	lés	lésa	lési
genitive (rodȋlnik)	lésa	lésov	lésov
dative (dajȃlnik)	lésu	lésoma	lésom
accusative (tožȋlnik)	lés	lésa	lése
locative (mẹ̑stnik)	lésu	lésih	lésih
instrumental (orọ̑dnik)	lésom	lésoma	lési

Further reading

• “les”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran

Spanish

Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin illīs, dative plural of ille.

Pronoun

les

1. dative of ellos and ellas; to them, for them
2. dative of ustedes; to you all, for you all (formal)

See also

Spanish personal pronouns

				nominative	dative	accusative	disjunctive
first person	singular			yo	me		mí1
	plural	masculine2		nosotros	nos		nosotros
		feminine		nosotras			nosotras
second person	singular	tuteo		tú	te		ti1
		voseo		vos			vos
		formal3		usted	le, se4	lo/la5	usted
	plural	familiar6	masculine2	vosotros	os		vosotros
			feminine	vosotras			vosotras
		formal/general3		ustedes	les, se4	los/las5	ustedes
third person	singular	masculine2		él	le, se4	lo	él
		feminine		ella		la	ella
		neuter		ello7		lo	ello
	plural	masculine2		ellos	les, se4	los	ellos
		feminine		ellas		las	ellas
	reflexive			—	se		sí1

1. Not used with con; conmigo, contigo, and consigo are used instead, respectively
2. Like other masculine Spanish words, masculine Spanish pronouns can be used when the gender of the subject is unknown or when the subject is plural and of mixed gender.
3. Treated as if it were third-person for purposes of conjugation and reflexivity
4. 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)
5. Depending on the implicit gender of the object being referred to
6. Used primarily in Spain
7. Used only in rare circumstances

Etymology 2

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

Article

les m pl or f pl

1. (gender-neutral, neologism) the

Tok Pisin

Etymology

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

• 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

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.