low

pronunciation

How to pronounce low in British English: UK [ləʊ] word uk audio image

How to pronounce low in American English: US [loʊ] word us audio image

Noun:

an air mass of lower pressure; often brings precipitation
a low level or position or degree
the lowest forward gear ratio in the gear box of a motor vehicle; used to start a car moving
Verb:

make a low noise, characteristic of bovines
Adjective:

less than normal in degree or intensity or amount
literal meanings; being at or having a relatively small elevation or upward extension
very low in volume
unrefined in character
used of sounds and voices; low in pitch or frequency
of the most contemptible kind
low or inferior in station or quality
no longer sufficient
subdued or brought low in condition or status
low in spirits
being the gear producing the lowest drive speed
Adverb:

in a low position; near the ground

Word Origin

low: low: English has two words low, of which surprisingly the ‘noise made by cattle’ [OE] is the older. It goes back ultimately to the onomatopoeic Indo-European base *klā-. This also produced Latin clārus (which originally meant ‘loud’, and gave English clear and declare), clāmāre ‘cry out’ (source of English acclaim, claim, exclaim, etc), and calāre ‘proclaim, summon’ (source of English council).It produced a prehistoric Germanic *khlō-, whose only survivor other than English low is Dutch loeien. Low ‘not high’ [12] was borrowed from Old Norse lágr (source also of Swedish låg ‘low’). This goes back to a prehistoric Germanic *lǣgjaz, which was derived from the same base as produced the English verb lie ‘recline’.=> acclaim, claim, clear, council, exclaim; lie

low (adj.): "not high," late 13c., from lah (late 12c.), "not rising much, being near the base or ground" (of objects or persons); "lying on the ground or in a deep place" (late 13c.), from Old Norse lagr "low," or a similar Scandinavian source (compare Swedish låg, Danish lav), from Proto-Germanic *lega- "lying flat, low" (cognates: Old Frisian lech, Middle Dutch lage, Dutch laag "low," dialectal German läge "flat"), from PIE *legh- "to lie" (see lie (v.2)). Meaning "humble in rank" is from c. 1200; "undignified" is from 1550s; sense of "dejected, dispirited" is attested from 1737; meaning "coarse, vulgar" is from 1759. In reference to sounds, "not loud," also "having a deep pitch," it is attested from c. 1300. Of prices, from c. 1400. In geographical usage, low refers to the part of a country near the sea-shore (c. 1300, as in Low Countries "Holland, Belgium, Luxemburg," 1540s). As an adverb c. 1200, from the adjective.

low (v.): Old English hlowan "make a noise like a cow," from Proto-Germanic *khlo- (cognates: Middle Dutch loeyen, Dutch loeien, Old Low Franconian luon, Old High German hluojen), from imitative PIE root *kele- (2) "to shout" (see claim (v.)).

low (n.2): "hill," obsolete except in place names, Old English hlaw "hill, mound," especially "barrow," related to hleonian "to lean" (see lean (v.)). Compare Latin clivus "hill" from the same PIE root.