les

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

Pronoun

les m pl or f pl

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

References

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• sel

Verb

les

1. second-person singular present indicative of ler

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

Etymology

From Proto-Ugric *läćɜ (“hiding place; lurk”).^[1][2] 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

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

References

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɛːs/
• Rhymes: -ɛːs

Etymology 1

Etymology 2

Etymology 1

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

Etymology 2

From Dutch lis (“reed”).

Etymology 3

Further reading

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

Pronoun

les

1. (dative) to them

Etymology

From Latin illas.

Article

les f (plural)

1. the

See also

• l
• la, l'
• i

Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish les, from Latin illīs, dative plural of ille.

Pronoun

les m or f by sense (Hebrew spelling ליס)^[1]

1. dative of eyos and eyas; to them, for them

References

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
   • 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

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

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, 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.

Verb

les

1. imperative of lese

Verb

les

1. present tense of lesa
2. imperative of lesa

Etymology

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

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

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)

Etymology 1

Etymology 2

Mutation

Etymology

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

Noun

les m inan

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

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

Etymology

Compare with Bengali লেজ (lej).

Noun

les

1. tail

Etymology

Borrowed from Bulgarian лес (les).

Noun

les n (plural lesuri)

1. (Oltenia) thicket

References

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lêːs/

Etymology 1

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

Etymology 2

From German Löss.

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ʎes]

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

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

1. forest, woods

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, 2003–2024

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *lěsъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /léːs/
• Rhymes: -eːs
• Hyphenation: les

Noun

lẹ̑s m inan

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

n=

n=

Further reading

• “les”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran
• “les”, in Termania, Amebis
• See also the general references

Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin illīs, dative plural of ille.

Etymology 2

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

Further reading

• “le”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10
• “leísmo” in Diccionario panhispánico de dudas, segunda edición, Real Academia Española, 2023. →ISBN

Etymology

From English lazy.

Adjective

les

1. lazy
2. tired, fed up

Verb

les

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /leːs/
• Rhymes: -eːs

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English lace.

Etymology 2

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

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

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