menos

See also: ménos

Asturian

Etymology

From Latin minus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmenos/ [ˈme.nos]
• Rhymes: -enos
• Syllabification: me‧nos

Adverb

menos

1. less

   Antonym: más

   Esti pueblu ye menos guapu que'l to. ― This town is less nice than that one.

Further reading

• Xosé Lluis García Arias (2002–2004), “menos”, in Diccionario general de la lengua asturiana [General Dictionary of the Asturian Language] (in Spanish), Editorial Prensa Asturiana, →ISBN
• “menos”, in Diccionariu de la llingua asturiana [Dictionary of the Asturian Language] (in Asturian), 1ª edición, Academia de la Llingua Asturiana, 2000, →ISBN

Galician

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese menos, which displaced the semi-learned form mẽos, learned borrowing from Latin minus comparative of parum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmenos/ [ˈmẽ.nos̺]
• Rhymes: -enos
• Hyphenation: me‧nos

Adverb

menos

1. less

   Antonym: máis

Preposition

menos

1. except, but

   Vinche todos eses filmes menos o último ― I saw all that movies, except the last one

Noun

menos m (invariable)

1. (mathematics) minus
2. less

Noun

menos m pl (plural only)

1. the minority of a collective

References

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “menos”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “menos”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “menos”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “menos”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “menos”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Further reading

• “menos”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026
• “menos”, in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (in Galician), 2014–2026

Ladino

Alternative forms

• meno

Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish menos (“less”), inherited from Latin minus, comparative of parum.

Adverb

menos (Hebrew spelling מינוס)

1. less

   Synonym: manko

   Antonym: mas

   • (Can we date this quote?), Folkmasa‎^[1]:

     esta ropa es menos buena ke la ke vites ayer

     This clothing is less good than what you saw yesterday.

2. (often with definite article) least

   Synonym: manko

   Antonym: mas

   • 1995, Aki Yerushalayim: revista de las emisiones de Israel en djudeo-espaniol‎^[2], numbers 49-52, page 62:

     Uno de los menos konosidos de entre estos livros, el Seder Eliyau Zuta de Rabi Eliyau Kapsali, viene de ser reeditado agora kon el titolo Chronique de l'Expulsion en una traduksion al fransez de Simone Sultan-Bohbot.

     One of the least known among these books, el Seder Eliyau Zuta, by Rabbi Eliyau Kapsali, is now going to be reedited with the title Chronique de l'Expulsion in a French translation by Simone Sultan-Bohbot.

Preposition

menos (Hebrew spelling מינוס)

1. (mathematics) minus
   • (Can we date this quote?), Folkmasa‎^[3]:

     Sinko menos dos le aze tres

     Five minus two equals three.

Old Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Latin minus, comparative of parum.

Adverb

menos (diminutive comparative)

1. less

Descendants

• Ladino: meno, menos, מינוס, מינו
• Spanish: menos

References

• Ralph Steele Boggs et al. (1946), “menos”, in Tentative Dictionary of Medieval Spanish, volume II, Chapel Hill, page 336

Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese menos, displacing collateral form mẽos, from Latin minus, neuter of minor (“lesser; smaller”), comparative of parvus (“small”).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈmẽ.nus/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈmẽ.nus/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ˈmẽ.nuʃ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈme.nos/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈme.nuʃ/

• Audio (Portugal (Porto)):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: me‧nos

Adverb

menos (not comparable)

1. less (in lower degree)

   Antonym: mais

   Aqui é menos frio. ― Here is less cold.

   Se trabalhares menos, cansarás menos. ― If you work less, you will tire less.

Derived terms

• de menos
• mais ou menos

Preposition

menos

1. except; but

   Synonyms: exceto, fora

   Li todos, menos o último. ― I read all, except the last one.

2. (mathematics) minus (indicates subtraction)

   Três menos dois é um. ― Three minus two is one.

Pronoun

menos m or f (plural menos)

1. fewer (a smaller number of), less (a smaller size or significance of)

   Antonym: mais

   Menos pessoas correm. ― Fewer people run.

   Atirou com menos precisão. ― He shot with less precision.

Usage notes

• Some use the feminine plural menas. It is only used in Brazil. Such usage is non-standard and highly proscribed.

Noun

menos m (invariable)

1. minus sign (the symbol −)

   Synonym: sinal de menos

Further reading

• “menos”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “menos”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish menos, inherited from Latin minus, comparative of parum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmenos/ [ˈme.nos]
• Rhymes: -enos
• Syllabification: me‧nos

Adverb

menos

1. less

   Antonym: más

   Camina menos rápido, por favor.

   Walk less quickly, please.

2. (often with definite article) least

   Antonym: más

   Él come el menos de todos en la familia.

   He eats the least of everyone in the family.

Usage notes

• Used in forming the comparative of adjectives.
• With the definite article, used in forming the superlative of adjectives.

Determiner

menos (plural menos)

1. less, fewer

   Antonym: más

2. least, fewest

   Antonym: más

Preposition

menos

1. (mathematics) minus

   Dos menos uno son uno.

   Two minus one is one.

2. except, besides

   Synonyms: excepto, salvo

   Antonym: incluido

   Todos menos Juan vinieron a la fiesta.

   Everyone except Juan came to the party.

Conjunction

menos

1. except, besides

Noun

menos m (plural menos)

1. minus sign

Derived terms

• a menos que
• al menos
• andar a tres menos cuartillo
• caso de menos valer
• cuanto menos, cuando menos
• de menos
• echar de menos
• el día menos pensado
• el que más y el que menos
• en menos
• ir a menos
• lo menos
• más o menos
• menos da una piedra
• menos de la cuenta
• menos lobos, Caperucita
• menos mal
• menospreciar
• nada más y nada menos
• nada menos
• nada y menos
• ni más ni menos
• ni mucho menos
• no poder menos
• no ser para menos
• poco más o menos
• por carta de menos
• por lo menos
• punto menos
• quien más, quien menos
• tanto menos que
• tener a menos
• tener sus más y sus menos
• un día más un día menos
• venir a menos

Further reading

• “menos”, 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

Tagalog

Alternative forms

• minos

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish menos.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈmenos/ [ˈmɛː.n̪os]
• Rhymes: -enos
• Syllabification: me‧nos

Adjective

menos (Baybayin spelling ᜋᜒᜈᜓᜐ᜔)

1. less; lacking; of less value

   Synonym: kulang

Derived terms

• imenos
• magmenos
• menos-gastos
• menos-menos
• menusin

References

• “menos”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018