Low

How to spell low

3 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce low

What does low mean?

1. adjectiveSituated a only a small height above the ground or a reference point, or below the usual level in amount, height, or value.

Low in a sentence

• The supermarket kept prices low to attract more shoppers.

• The shelf was so low that she had to crouch to reach it.

Where does low come from?

Language of origin: Old Norse

Low entered Middle English from the Old Norse word lagr, which meant 'low, humble, or short', a sense the Vikings carried into northern England during their settlements. That Norse word goes back to a root meaning 'lying flat' or 'situated near the ground', closely related to the verb 'to lie' in the sense of reclining. By the 1100s and 1200s the form 'lah' or 'low' had displaced or coloured the related native English words for the idea of height being slight. Over the centuries the word broadened far beyond physical height to cover quantity (low prices), pitch (a low note), mood (feeling low), and moral judgement (a low trick). There is a quite separate 'low' meaning the sound a cow makes, which is an unrelated native English word from Old English hlowan, imitating the animal's call; the spelling collapsed into the same four letters over time.

How the word is built

• low (single root, from Old Norse lagr 'low, humble')