few

few · determiner, pronoun¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*peh₂w-“few, small”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*fawaz“few”
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*fau
4. Old English · inherited fromfēaw“few”
5. Middle English · inherited fromfewe
6. English todayfew

From Middle English fewe, from Old English fēaw (“few”), from Proto-West Germanic *fau, from Proto-Germanic *fawaz (“few”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- (“few, small”). Cognate with Old Saxon fā (“few”), Old High German fao, fō (“few, little”), Old Norse fár (“few”), Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌿𐍃 (faus, “few”). Also related with Latin paucus (“little, few”) and pauper (“poor”), from which latter English poor and pauper; see these.

Few · proper noun²

From a speech by Winston Churchill that included the phrase "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few".

Words from the same roots