English
few
Few comes from Middle English fewe ‘few, little, not many’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂w-1‘few’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fawaz1reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fau1reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150fēaw1
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fewe1‘few’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588few1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English few
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “Your men are valiant but their number few, And…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂w-Wiktionary, English few‘few’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fawazWiktionary, English fewreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fauWiktionary, English fewreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150fēawWiktionary, English few
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500feweWiktionary, English few‘few’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588fewWiktionary, English few. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “Your men are valiant but their number few, And…”
The story
Also related with Latin paucus (‘little, few’) and pauper (‘poor’), from which latter English poor and pauper; see these.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- ‘few, small’
poor, pose, pause, puppy, pupil, puppet, pediatrics, pave, filly, pedagogy, menopausal, paucity, pupa, orthopedics, puerile, posada, 29 more
through Middle English fewe ‘few, little, not many’
Today it means
det An indefinite, but usually small, number of.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “few”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.