Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjSituated close to, or even below, the ground or another normal reference plane; not high or lofty.
adjSituated close to, or even below, the ground or another normal reference plane; not high or lofty., Pertaining to (or, especially of a language: spoken in) in an area which is at a lesser elevation, closer to sea level (especially near the sea), than other regions.
Sentence Examples
His low salary prevents him from buying the house.
Lots of low trees grow on the hill.
The temperature reached a record low in London last night.
The ____ price of the house made it easy for them to buy.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The price of oil has reached a new ____, which is good news for many consumers around the world today.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *legʰ-
Proto-Indo-European *-yeti
Proto-Indo-European *légʰyeti
Proto-Germanic *ligjaną
Proto-Germanic *lēgaz
Old Norse lágrbor.
Middle English lāh
English low
From Middle English lowe, lohe, lāh, from Old Norse lágr (“low”), from Proto-Germanic *lēgaz (“lying, flat, situated near the ground, low”), from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- (“to lie”).
Cognate with Scots laich (“low”), Saterland Frisian läich (“low”), West Frisian leech (“low”), Dutch laag (“low”), obsolete German läg (“low”), German Low German leeg, leeg' (“low”), Danish lav (“low”), Faroese, Icelandic lágur (“low”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish låg (“low”). More at lie.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Narrative friezes in low relief were characteristic of Ionic architecture."
— 2012, Tyler Jo Smith, Dimitris Plantzos, A Companion to Greek Art, →ISBN:
"The men are well-proportioned, rather low than tall, have a brown complexion, and reserved countenance."
— 1795, James Cavanah Murphy, Travels in Portugal, page 15:
"Just a month ago, data showed Antarctica would set a record this year for lowest sea-ice extent — the area of ocean covered by sea ice around the continent."
— 2022 March 25, Rachel Ramirez and Hafsa Khalil, “Antarctic ice shelf nearly the size of Los Angeles collapsed as temperatures soared to 40 above normal”, in CNN:
"Again, observe the unmeaningness of the low neck fashion. Our mothers wore low dresses and bare arms all day long; they knew if their shoulders and arms were beautiful they would look as well by daylight as by candlelight; […]"
— 1878, Mary Eliza Joy Haweis, The Art of Beauty, London: Chatto & Windus, page 83:
"Why do girls wear low dresses?"
— 1917, George Amos Dorsey, Young Low, page 195: