Low

Pronunciation

• RP IPA: /ləʊ/
• US IPA: /loÊŠ/
• Rhymes: -əʊ (Etymologies 1 & 2 only)

From Middle English lowe, lohe, lāh, from Old Norse lágr ("low"), from Proto-Germanic *lēgaz ("lying, flat, situated near the ground, low"), from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- ("to lie"). Cognate with Scots laich ("low"), Low German leg ("low, feeble, bad"), Danish lav ("low"), Icelandic lágur ("low"), West Frisian leech ("low"), North Frisian leeg, liig ("low"), Dutch laag ("low"), German läge ("lying, low"). More at lie.

Full definition of low

Adjective

1. In a position comparatively close to the ground.
2. Small in height.
3. Situated below the normal level, or the mean elevation.
4. Depressed, sad.low spiritsI felt low at Christmas with no family to celebrate with.
5. Not high in amount or quantity.Food prices are lower in a supermarket than in a luxury department store.
• 2013-06-22, T time, The ability to shift profits to low-tax countries by locating intellectual property in them, which is then licensed to related businesses in high-tax countries, is often assumed to be the preserve of high-tech companies. … current tax rules make it easy for all sorts of firms to generate … “stateless income”: profit subject to tax in a jurisdiction that is neither the location of the factors of production that generate the income nor where the parent firm is domiciled.
6. Of a pitch, suggesting a lower frequency.
   Generally, European men have lower voices than their Indian counterparts.
7. Quiet; soft; not loud.
   They spoke in low voices so I would not hear what they were saying.
8. Despicable; lacking dignity; vulgar.
   Now that was low even for you!
   a person of low minda low trick or stratagem
9. Lacking health or vitality; feeble; weak.a low pulsemade low by sickness
10. Being near the equator.the low northern latitudes
11. Humble in character or status.
• MiltonWhy but to keep ye low and ignorant?
• FeltonIn comparison of these divine writers, the noblest wits of the heathen world are low and dull.
12. Simple in complexity or development.
13. Designed for the slowest speed, as in low gear.
14. Articulated with a wide space between the flat tongue and the palette.
15. (phonetics) Made, as a vowel, with a low position of part of the tongue in relation to the palate.
16. (archaic) Not rich, highly seasoned, or nourishing; plain; simple.a low diet

Synonyms

• (in a position comparatively close to the ground) nether, underslung
• (small in height) short, small
• (depressed) blue, depressed, down, miserable, sad, unhappy, gloomy
• (in an amount nearest to zero, such as low prices) reduced, devalued, low-level
• (of a pitch, suggesting a lower frequency) low-pitched, deep, flat
• (of a loudness, suggesting a lower amplitude) low-toned, soft
• (despicable thing to do) immoral, abject, scummy, scurvy

Antonyms

• (in a position comparatively close to the ground) high

Derived terms

Noun

1. Something that is low; a low point.You have achieved a new low in behavior, Frank.''Economic growth has hit a new low.
2. A depressed mood or situation.He is in a low right now
3. (meteorology) An area of low pressure; a depression.
4. The lowest-speed gearing of a power-transmission system, especially of an automotive vehicle.Shift out of low before the car gets to eight miles per hour.
5. (card games) The lowest trump, usually the deuce; the lowest trump dealt or drawn.
6. (slang) (usually accompanied by "the") a cheap, cost-efficient, or advantageous payment or expense.He got the brand new Yankees jersey for the low.

Adverb

1. Close to the ground.
2. Of a pitch, at a lower frequency.
• ShakespeareCan sing both high and low.
3. With a low voice or sound; not loudly; gently.to speak low
• TennysonThe ... odorous wind
  Breathes low between the sunset and the moon.
4. Under the usual price; at a moderate price; cheaply.He sold his wheat low.
5. In a low mean condition; humbly; meanly.
6. In a time approaching our own.
• John LockeIn that part of the world which was first inhabited, even as low down as Abraham's time, they wandered with their flocks and herds.
7. (astronomy) In a path near the equator, so that the declination is small, or near the horizon, so that the altitude is small; said of the heavenly bodies with reference to the diurnal revolution.The moon runs low, i.e. comparatively near the horizon when on or near the meridian.

Verb

1. (obsolete, transitive) To depress; to lower.

From Middle English, from Old English hlōg, preterite of hliehhan ("to laugh"). More at laugh.

Verb

1. Form of obsolete simple past tense.

From Middle English lowen ("to low"), from Old English hlōwan ("to low, bellow, roar"), from Proto-Germanic *hlōaną ("to call, shout"), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kale-, *klā-, *klē- ("to shout, call"). Cognate with Dutch loeien ("to low"), Middle High German lüejen ("to roar"), Swedish dialectal lumma ("to roar"), Latin calō ("I call"), Ancient Greek καλέω, Latin clāmō ("I shout, claim"). More at claim.

Verb

1. (intransitive) To moo.The cattle were lowing.
• GrayThe lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea.

Pronunciation

• enPR: lou, IPA: /laÊŠ/
• Rhymes: -aÊŠ

From Middle English lowe, loghe, from Old Norse logi ("fire, flame, sword"), from Proto-Germanic *lugô ("flame, blaze"), from Proto-Indo-European *leuk- ("light"). Cognate with Icelandic logi ("flame"), Swedish låga ("flame"), Danish lue ("flame"), German Lohe ("blaze, flames"), North Frisian leag ("fire, flame"), Old English līeġ ("fire, flame, lightning"). More at leye, light.

Alternative forms

• lowe

Noun

1. (countable, UK, Scotland, dialect) A flame; fire; blaze.

Verb

1. (UK, Scotland, dialect) To burn; to blaze.

From Old English hlāw, hlǣw ("burial mound"). Obsolete by the 19th century, survives in toponymy as -low.

Alternative forms

• lawe

Noun

1. (archaic or obsolete) Barrow, mound, tumulus.A barrow or Low, such as were usually cast up over the bodies of eminent Captains. (Robert Plot, The natural history of Staffordshire, 1686; cited after OED).
2. (Scottish dialectal, archaic) A hill.And some they brought the brown lint-seed, and flung it down from the Low. (Mary Howitt, Ballads and other poems 1847)

Anagrams

• owl