Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The characteristic sound uttered by cattle; a moo.
  • intransitive verb To utter the sound made by cattle; moo.
  • adjective Having little relative height; not high or tall.
  • adjective Rising only slightly above surrounding surfaces.
  • adjective Near to the ground or the horizon.
  • adjective Situated or placed below normal height.
  • adjective Situated below the surrounding surfaces.
  • adjective Of less than usual or average depth; shallow.
  • adjective Cut to show the wearer's neck and chest; décolleté.
  • adjective Close or closer to a reference point.
  • adjective Linguistics Produced with part or all of the tongue depressed, as a, pronounced (ä), in father. Used of vowels.
  • adjective Below average in degree, intensity, or amount.
  • adjective Below an average or a standard.
  • adjective Ranked near the beginning of an ascending series or scale.
  • adjective Relating to or being latitudes nearest to the equator.
  • adjective Relatively small. Used of a cost, price, or other value.
  • adjective Not loud; soft.
  • adjective Having a pitch corresponding to a relatively small number of sound-wave cycles per second.
  • adjective Below others in status or rank; lowly.
  • adjective Violating standards of morality or decency; base: synonym: base.
  • adjective Unrefined; coarse.
  • adjective Being near depletion.
  • adjective Not adequately provided or equipped; short.
  • adjective Lacking strength or vigor; weak.
  • adjective Lacking liveliness or good spirits; discouraged or dejected.
  • adjective Depreciatory; disparaging.
  • adjective Of, relating to, or being the gear configuration or setting, as in an automotive transmission, that produces the least vehicular speed with respect to engine speed.
  • adverb In or to a low position, level, or space.
  • adverb In or to a low condition or rank; humbly.
  • adverb In or to a reduced, humbled, or degraded condition.
  • adverb Softly; quietly.
  • adverb With a deep pitch.
  • adverb At a small price.
  • noun A low level, position, or degree.
  • noun Meteorology A region of atmospheric pressure that is below normal.
  • noun The low gear configuration of a transmission.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The bellow of cattle; a moo.
  • To utter the soft bellow peculiar to animals of the cow kind; moo.
  • To lower.
  • To bring low; humble.
  • To go low; descend; fall.
  • Near the ground; not aloft; not high: as, to fly low; to aim low.
  • In a mean condition: in composition: as, a low-born fellow or lass.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From Middle English lowen, to moo, from Old English hlōwan; see kelə- in Indo-European roots.]

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English loue, from Old Norse lāgr; see legh- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English lowen ("to low"), from Old English hlōwan ("to low, bellow, roar"), from Proto-Germanic *hlōanan (“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 (kaleō), Latin clāmō ("I shout, claim"). More at claim.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

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

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English lowe, lohe, lāh, from Old Norse lāgr ("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.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

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.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

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

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word low.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.