les (femininelesa, masculine plurallesos, feminine pluralleses)
(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 Czechles, from Proto-Slavic*lěsъ.
Pronunciation
IPA(key): [ˈlɛs]
Hyphenation: les
Rhymes: -ɛs
Homophone: lez
Noun
lesm inan
forest
Synonym:hvozd
Declension
Related terms
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
lesc
indefinite genitive singular of le
Dutch
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /lɛs/
Hyphenation: les
Rhymes: -ɛs
Etymology 1
From Middle Dutchlesse, from Latinlēctiō.
Noun
lesf (plurallessen, diminutivelesjen)
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
inflection of lessen:
first-person singular present indicative
imperative
Anagrams
els
Further reading
“les” in Woordenlijst Nederlandse Taal – Officiële Spelling, Nederlandse Taalunie. [the official spelling word list for the Dutch language]
French
Etymology
Inherited from Middle Frenchles, from Old Frenchles, from Latinillōsm and illāsf 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‿/
Homophones: lé, lés, lez, lait, laits
Article
les
plural of le: the
plural of la: the
Usage notes
de les is never used: contracted into des.
à les is never used: contracted into aux.
Pronoun
lesm pl or f pl
plural of le: them
plural of la: them
Related terms
References
Further reading
“les”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé[Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams
sel
Galician
Verb
les
second-person singular present indicative of ler
German
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /leːs/
Verb
les
(colloquial)first-person singular present of lesen
Synonym:(standard)lese
(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]
Rhymes: -ɛʃ
Noun
les (plurallesek)
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
(hunting) hide, blind
(soccer) offside
Synonyms:lesállás, leshelyzet
Declension
Derived terms
Verb
les
(transitive) to spy, peep, peek, pry
(transitive) to stare, goggle, eye
(transitive, intransitive) to cheat at a test by looking at someone else's work
Conjugation
Derived terms
(With verbal prefixes):
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
“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
(dative) to them
Usage notes
Precedes conjugated verbs.
Can be of mixed gender (not just masculine).
Ladin
Etymology
From Latinillas.
Article
lesf (plural)
the
See also
l
la, l'
i
Middle English
Alternative forms
lese, lees, leas, leasse
Etymology
From Old Englishlēas(“false, void, loose”).
Cognate with Middle High Germanlōs(“loose”), Old Swedishlø̄s(“loose”); a doublet of loos.
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /lɛːs/
Adjective
les
false; lying; deceptive
Noun
les (uncountable)
falsehood; a lie
Middle French
Etymology
from Old Frenchles, from Latinillōsm and illāsf
Article
lesm pl or f pl (masculine singularle, feminine singularla)
the
Descendants
French: les
Norman
Pronunciation
Article
lespl (singularlé, andla)
Alternative form of l's
les boutons ― the nipples
les êpices ― the spices
les lédgeunmes ― the vegetables
les ridgieaux ― the curtains
Norwegian Bokmål
Verb
les
imperative of lese
Norwegian Nynorsk
Verb
les
present tense of lesa
imperative of lesa
Old Czech
Etymology
Inherited from Proto-Slavic*lěsъ.
Pronunciation
IPA(key): (13th CE)/ˈlɛs/
IPA(key): (15th CE)/ˈlɛs/
Noun
lesm inan
forest
Synonym:hvozd
Declension
Descendants
Czech: les
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
Old French
Etymology
From Latinillas and illos.
Article
les
the (feminine plural oblique definite article)
the (feminine plural nominative definite article)
the (masculine plural oblique definite article)
Inflection
Descendants
Middle French: les
French: les
Old Irish
Etymology 1
Pronunciation
IPA(key): [lʲesʲ]
Pronoun
les
third-person singular masculine of la
Alternative forms
less
Etymology 2
Pronunciation
IPA(key): [l͈ʲes]
Noun
lesm
Alternative spelling of less(“benefit, advantage”)
Mutation
Old Slovak
Etymology
Inherited from Proto-Slavic*lě̑sъ. First attested in 1386.
Noun
lesm inan
forest, woods (dense uncultivated tract of trees)
Descendants
Slovak: les
Pannonian Rusyn: лєс(ljes)
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
Rohingya
Etymology
Compare with Bengaliলেজ(lej).
Noun
les
tail
Romanian
Etymology
Borrowed from Bulgarianлес(les).
Noun
lesn (plurallesuri)
(Oltenia) thicket
Declension
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
Inherited from Proto-Slavic*lěsъ(“tree, forest”).
Alternative forms
lijȇs(Ijekavian)
Noun
lȇsm (Cyrillic spellingле̑с)
coffin
(regionally) lumber
(regionally) forest, woods
Declension
Etymology 2
From GermanLöss.
Noun
lȇsm (Cyrillic spellingле̑с)
(geology) loess
Slovak
Etymology
Inherited from Old Slovakles, from Proto-Slavic*lěsъ.
“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, 2024
Slovene
Etymology
From Proto-Slavic*lěsъ.
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /léːs/
Rhymes: -eːs
Hyphenation: les
Noun
lẹ̑sm inan
(uncountable) wood
Synonyms:lesovina, lesnina, lesna snov
(uncommon, uncountable) trees in a forest[→SSKJ]
Synonyms:drevo, drev
(usually in the plural, archaic or literary) forest, woods
“les”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran
“les”, in Termania, Amebis
See also the general references
Spanish
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /les/[les]
Rhymes: -es
Syllabification: les
Etymology 1
Inherited from Latinillīs, dative plural of ille.
Pronoun
les
dative of ellos and ellas; to them, for them
dative of ustedes; to you all, for you all (formal)
(gender-neutral, neologism)dative of elles; to them, for them
See also
Etymology 2
Gender-neutral e replaces the gendered endings/elements a and o.
Article
lesgender-neutral pl
(gender-neutral, neologism) the (plural)
Tok Pisin
Etymology
From Englishlazy.
Adjective
les
lazy
tired, fed up
Verb
les
be lazy
be tired, be fed up
Welsh
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /leːs/
Rhymes: -eːs
Etymology 1
Borrowed from Englishlace.
Noun
lesf (plurallesau, not mutable)
lace (light fabric patterned with holes)
Etymology 2
Borrowed from Middle Englishlease, from Anglo-Normanles, from Old Frenchlais, lez(“a lease”).
Noun
lesf (plurallesoedd, not mutable)
lease
Alternative forms
lês(obsolete)
Derived terms
lesddeiliad(“leaseholder”)
Etymology 3
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Noun
les
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