Hypertext Webster Gateway: "lesser"

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Lesser \Less"er\, adv.
Less. [Obs.] --Shak.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Lesser \Less"er\ (-[~e]r), a. [This word is formed by adding
anew the compar. suffix -er (in which r is from an original
s) to less. See {Less}, a.]
Less; smaller; inferior.

God made . . . the lesser light to rule the night.
--Gen. i. 15.

Note: Lesser is used for less, now the compar. of little, in
certain special instances in which its employment has
become established by custom; as, Lesser Asia (i. e.,
Asia Minor), the lesser light, and some others; also in
poetry, for the sake of the meter, and in prose where
its use renders the passage more euphonious.

The more my prayer, the lesser is my grace.
--Shak.

The larger here, and there the lesser lambs.
--Pope.

By the same reason may a man, in the state of
nature, punish the lesser breaches of the law.
--Locke.

From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)

lesser
adj 1: of less size or importance; "the lesser anteater"; "the
lesser of two evils" [ant: {greater}]
2: smaller in size or amount or value; "the lesser powers of
Europe"; "the lesser anteater"


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