les

• lez

• (UK, US), IPA^(key): /lɛz/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛz

les (plural leses)

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

les (comparative more les, superlative most les)

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

• ELs, ESL, LSE, SEL, SLE, els

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

• IPA^(key): /lɛs/

• Audio

  (file)

les (plural lesse, diminutive lessie)

1. lesson

From Latin ille (“that one”).

les

1. them (indirect object)

• lis

From Latin illas.

les f pl (masculine sg el, feminine sg la, neuter sg lo, masculine plural los)

1. (definite) the

From Latin illās, from ille.

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /ləs/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /les/
• Rhymes: -es

les f pl (masculine plural els, masculine singular el, feminine singular la)

1. the; feminine plural definite article

les (enclitic and proclitic)

1. them (feminine, direct object)

Borrowed from Latin laesus.

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /ˈləs/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /ˈlɛs/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /ˈles/

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

1. (law) harmed

• crim de lesa humanitat

• il·lès

• “les” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Inherited from Old Czech les, from Proto-Slavic *lěsъ.

• IPA^(key): [ˈlɛs]

• audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: les
• Rhymes: -ɛs
• Homophone: lez

les m inan

1. forest

   Synonym: hvozd

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

les c

1. indefinite genitive singular of le

• IPA^(key): /lɛs/
• Rhymes: -ɛs

• audio

  (file)

From Middle Dutch lesse, from Latin lēctiō.

les f (plural lessen, diminutive lesje n)

1. course, lesson

• gymles
• gymnastiekles
• lesgeven
• lesplan
• lesrooster
• lessen
• paardrijles
• rijles
• zangles
• zwemles

• Afrikaans: les
• → Caribbean Javanese: lès
• → Indonesian: les
• → Papiamentu: lès, les

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

les

1. first-person singular present indicative of lessen
2. imperative of lessen

• els

From Middle French les, from Old French les, from Latin illōs m and illās f which are the accusative plurals of ille.[1]

• 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

les

1. plural of le: the
2. plural of la: the

• de les is never used: contracted into des.
• à les is never used: contracted into aux.

les m pl or f pl

1. plural of le: them
2. plural of la: them

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

• sel

les

1. second-person singular present indicative of ler

• IPA^(key): /leːs/

les

1. (colloquial) first-person singular present of lesen

   Synonym: (standard) lese

2. (colloquial) singular imperative of lesen

   Synonym: (standard) lies

From Proto-Ugric *läćɜ (“hiding place; lurk”).[1][2] Cognates include Southern Mansi [script needed] (lǟš-), Northern Mansi [script needed] (lāś-).

• IPA^(key): [ˈlɛʃ]

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛʃ

les (plural lesek)

1. 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

2. (hunting) hide, blind
3. (soccer) offside

   Synonyms: lesállás, leshelyzet

les

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

(With verbal prefixes):

• (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

• IPA^(key): /lɛːs/
• Rhymes: -ɛːs

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)

• (lexeme): flettiorð

• lesgreining
• lesgreinir

• tóki

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.

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

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

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

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

lès

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

From Dutch lis (“reed”).

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

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

1. rein.

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

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

1. alternative spelling of lis

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

les

1. (dative) to them

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

From Latin illas.

les f (plural)

1. the

• l
• la, l'
• i

• lese, lees, leas, leasse

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

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

• IPA^(key): /lɛːs/

les

1. false; lying; deceptive

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.

from Old French les, from Latin illōs m and illās f

les m pl or f pl (masculine singular le, feminine singular la)

1. the

• French: les

• Audio (Jersey)

  (file)

les pl (singular lé, and la)

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

les

1. imperative of lese

les

1. present tense of lesa
2. imperative of lesa

From Proto-Slavic *lěsъ.

les m

1. forest

   Synonym: hvozd

• Czech: les

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

From Latin illas and illos.

les

1. the (feminine plural oblique definite article)
2. the (feminine plural nominative definite article)
3. the (masculine plural oblique definite article)

• Middle French: les
  • French: les

• IPA^(key): [lʲesʲ]

les

1. third-person singular masculine of la

• less

• IPA^(key): [l͈ʲes]

les m

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

From Bengali.

les

1. tail

Borrowed from Bulgarian лес (les).

les n (plural lesuri)

1. (Oltenia) thicket

• les in Academia Română, Micul dicționar academic, ediția a II-a, Bucharest: Univers Enciclopedic, 2010. →ISBN

• IPA^(key): /lêːs/

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

• (Ijekavian) lijȇs

lȇs m (Cyrillic spelling ле̑с)

1. coffin
2. (regionally) lumber
3. (regionally) forest, woods

From German Löss.

lȇs m (Cyrillic spelling ле̑с)

1. (geology) loess

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *lěsъ.

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɛs/

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

1. forest

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

From Proto-Slavic *lěsъ.

• IPA^(key): /léːs/

lẹ̑s m inan

1. wood

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

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

From Latin illīs, dative plural of ille.

les

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

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

les m pl or f pl

1. (gender-neutral, neologism) the

From English lazy.

les

1. lazy
2. tired, fed up

les

1. be lazy
2. be tired, be fed up

• IPA^(key): /leːs/
• Rhymes: -eːs

Borrowed from English lace.

les f (plural lesau, not mutable)

1. lace (light fabric patterned with holes)

Borrowed from Middle English lease, from Anglo-Norman les, from Old French lais, lez (“a lease”).

les f (plural lesoedd, not mutable)

1. lease

• lês (obsolete)

• lesddeiliad (“leaseholder”)

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

les

1. Soft mutation of lles.

• 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