From Middle English _fewe_ (“few”), from Old English _fēawa, fēawe, fēa_ (“few”), from Proto-Germanic _*fawaz_ (“few”), from Proto-Indo-European _*ph₁w-_ (“few, small”). Cognate with Old Saxon _fā_ (“few”), Old High German _fao, fō_ (“few, little”), Old Norse _fár_ (“few”), Gothic

* (UK) IPA(key): /fjuː/ * (US) IPA(key): /fju/ * Rhymes: -uː * Homophone: phew

FEW (_comparative_ FEWER, _superlative_ FEWEST) * (preceded by another determiner) An indefinite, but usually small, number of. _I was expecting lots of people at the party, but very FEW_ (=_almost none_) _turned up.   Quite a FEW of them_ (=_many of them_) _were pleasantly surprised.   I don't know how many drinks I've had, but I've had a FEW._ [This usage is likely ironic.] * (used alone) Not many; a small (in comparison with another number stated or implied) but somewhat indefinite number of. _There are FEW people who understand quantum theory.   Many are called, but FEW are chosen._ * (meteorology, of clouds) _(US?)_ Obscuring one eighth to two eighths of the sky. _Tonight: A FEW clouds. Increasing cloudiness overnight._ NOAA definition of the term "few clouds": _An official sky cover classification for aviation weather observations, descriptive of a sky cover of 1/8 to 2/8. This is applied only when obscuring phenomenon aloft are present--that is, not when obscuring phenomenon are surface-based, such as fog._ * (meteorology, of rainfall with regard to a location) _(US?)_ Having a 10 percent chance of measurable precipitation (0.01 inch); used interchangeably with isolated. USAGE NOTES * _Few_ is used with plural nouns only; its synonymous counterpart _little_ is used with uncountable nouns. * Although indefinite in nature, a few is usually more than two (two often being referred to as "a couple of"), and less than "several". If the sample population is say between 5 and 20, a few would mean three or four, but no more than this. However, if the population sample size were in the millions, "a few" could refer to several hundred items. In other words, _few_ in this context means _a very very small percentage_ but way over the 3 or 4 usually ascribed to it its use with much much smaller numbers. _Few_ is grammatically affirmative but semantically negative, and it can license negative polarity items. For example, _lift a finger_ usually cannot be used in affirmative sentences, but can be used in sentences with _few_. * _He didn't lift a finger to help us._ *_He lifted a finger to help us._ (ungrammatical) _FEW people lifted a finger to help us._ *_A few people lifted a finger to help us._ (ungrammatical) *_Fewer people lifted a finger to help us._ (ungrammatical) SYNONYMS * little (see usage) ANTONYMS * many DERIVED TERMS * a few * quite a few RELATED TERMS * paucity * poor TRANSLATIONS

FEW * Few people, few things. _Many are called, but FEW are chosen._ ANTONYMS * many TRANSLATIONS REFERENCES * METEOROLOGY (BOTH SENSES) NOAA Glossary: f