Footnote E: Chaucer's text is: 'This litel child his litel book lernynge As he sat in the schole in his primere.
Footnote F: Chaucer's text is: 'And in a tombe of marble stoones clere Enclosed they this litel body swete.
Her pacience is al pased, And put out to ferme; 150 And pride is in her povertie, That litel is to preisen.
And though avarice wolde angre the poore, 9390 He hath but litel myghte; For poverte hath but pokes To putten in hise goodes, Ther avarice hath almaries, And yren bounden cofres.
Lecherie loveth hym noght, 9400 For he gyveth but litel silver, Ne dooth hym noght dyne delicatly, Ne drynke wyn ofte.
Then saide I to myself, "Here semeth litel treuthe!
An olde man on a tyme and a lyttell boye his sonne droue a litel asse before them, whiche he purposed to sylle at the markette towne, that they went to.
Feign iz not taken from Latin fingo, az litel az honour iz taken from Latin honor.
For moore bilongeth to the litel barn, Er he the lawe knowe, Than nempnynge of a name, And he never the wiser.
Of logyk or of lawe In Legenda Sanctorum 7000 Is litel alowaunce maad, But if bileve hem helpe.
Cowardly thow, Conscience, Conseiledest hym thennes, 1770 To leven his lordshipe For a litel silver, That is the richeste reaume That reyn over-hoveth.
Who so hath muche, spende manliche, So seith Tobye; And who so litel weldeth, Rule hym therafter.
Litel loveth he that Lord That lent hym al that blisse, That thus parteth with the povere A percell whan hym nedeth.
Wite ye nat wher ther stant a litel town Which that y-cleped is Bop-up-and-down Under the Blee in Caunterbury weye?
And he hire granteth to be so; And thus togedre ben thei tuo, That wolde him bot a litel good.
And over that he tolde hem plein In what manere he was besein, And in what place he schal be founde; So that withinne a litel stounde Ulixes forth with Diomede Upon this point to Lichomede 3100 Agamenon togedre sente.
Skarsnesse and love acorden nevere, For every thing is wel the levere, Whan that a man hath boght it diere: And forto speke in this matiere, For sparinge of a litel cost Fulofte time a man hath lost The large cote for the hod.
For grace anon began to faile, That whan thei comen to bataille Thanne afterward, in sori plit Thei were take and disconfit, So that withinne a litel throwe The myht of hem was overthrowe, 4430 That whilom were wont to stonde.
But of my deeth though litel be to recche, Yet, er that ye me cause so to smerte, Dwel rather here, myn owene swete herte!
For which he wex a litel reed for shame, 645 Whan he the peple up-on him herde cryen, That to biholde it was a noble game, How sobreliche he caste doun his yen.
But your glorie, that is so narwe and so streite y-throngen in-to so litel boundes, how mochel coveiteth it in largesse and in greet doinge?
Wiltow thanne,' quod she, 'that I aproche a litel to the wordes 20 of the poeple, so that it seme nat to hem that I be overmoche departed as fro the usage of mankinde?
That, but my lord forbad yow, atte leste, Burieth this litel body in som place, That bestes ne no briddes it to-race.
The "litel hevynesse" which the knight noticed in the monk's stories is particularly well imitated, so much so that Lydgate himself stops sometimes with uplifted pen to yawn at his ease in the face of his reader.
So says the Parson, who adds: Ne, God wot, rym holde I but litel bettre.
I holde me stille {and} telle nat how þat litel þing suffiseþ to nature.
For al be it so þat ge{m}mes drawen to hem self a litel of þe laste beaute of þe worlde.
For of þis litelspark þine heet of lijf schal shine.
I trowe it were tyme to vsen a litel strenger medicynes.
Your Lordship always knoweth best; but surely the yonge knyght hath but litel reson to expect that you shulde further engage yourself in such bondes as might be necessary to bring this fine unto the Chequer.
Than shewed he him the litel erthe, that heer is, At regard of the hevenes quantite; And after shewed he him the nyne speres.
Chaucer's 'wenest thou thanne that thou oughtest to leten this a litel thing, that this .
As sone as love beginneth to remewe, Al plesaunce goth anon, in litel space; For my party, al that shal I eschewe, Whyls that the soule abydeth in his place.
Certes,' quod I, 'these ben good wordes of comfort; a litel myne herte is rejoyced in a mery wyse.
Passing al londes, on the litel yle 15 That cleped is Albion they most compleyne; They seyn, that there is croppe and rote of gyle.
Certes, trewe lovers 105 wenen ever therof to litel to have.
Trewly, suche powers ben unmighty; for ever they ben in drede how thilke power from lesing may be keped 40 of sorow; so drede sorily prikkes ever in their hertes: litel is that power whiche careth and ferdeth it-selfe to mayntayne.
The bordes were spred in right litel space; The ladies sat, ech as hem semed best.
For in 105 many countrees litel is London in knowing or in spech; and yet among oon maner of people may nat such fame in goodnes come; for as many as praysen, commenly as many lacken.
And if they wold weyve drede, as they mow not, litel is in worthines.
Siryppe and seeþ hem a litelon the fyre and sue it forth.
It wanteth litel I wol thee slo; 3150 For Bialacoil ne knew thee nought, Whan thee to serve he sette his thought; For thou wolt shame him, if thou might, Bothe ageyn resoun and right.
Thou wost fullitel what thou menest; I have lost more than thou wenest.
For litel shulde a man telle Of hir, that wol hir body selle, Be she mayde, be she wyf, 5055 That quik wol selle hir, by hir lyf.
The see may never be so stil, That with a litel winde it [nil] Overwhelme and turne also, 3775 As it were wood, in wawis go.
I praye god your sorwe lisse; 210 To litel whyl our blisse lasteth!
For she that mighte me out of this bringe Ne reccheth nat whether I wepe or singe; So litel rewthe hath she upon my peyne.
Of every thing that she may see 4225 Drede is aferd, wher-so she be; For with a puff of litel winde Drede is astonied in hir minde.
A fool is eyth [for] to bigyle; 3955 But may I lyve a litel while, He shal forthenke his fair semblaunt.
Who-so mochel wol embrace Litel therof he shal distreyne.
How can he be shamefast whẽ he is growen vp, which being a litel infãt was begon to be fashioned to lecherye?
A litel whyle after when the yong manne was forced of his father that was come to him, to returne agayne to his old vertue, he brake his necke out of a garret.
How shall he waxe liberal whẽ he is old, which being so litel hath lerned to meruell at money & gold?
The sun would leave Gemini and enter Cancer on the 12th of June; Chaucer was describing the 8th, and with his usual accuracy he places the sun "but litel fro" the summer solstice!
The tenderness of the mother's "Pees litel sone, I wol do thee non harm" as she binds her kerchief round the child's eyes is far more moving in its simplicity than the most harrowing description could be.
Who-so mochel wol embrace Litel thereof he shal distreyne.
O god of science and of light, Apollo, through thy grete might, This litel laste bok thou gye!
Tempest thee noght al croked to redresse, In trust of hir that turneth as a bal: Gret reste slant in litel besinesse; And eek be war to sporne ageyn an al; Stryve noght, as doth the crokke with the wal.
The above list will hopefully give you a few useful examples demonstrating the appropriate usage of "litel" in a variety of sentences. We hope that you will now be able to make sentences using this word.
