wee

American  

[wee] / wi /

adjective

weer, weest

1. little; very small.

   Synonyms:

   minuscule, diminutive, tiny

2. very early.

   in the wee hours of the morning.

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wee ¹ British  

/ wiː /

noun

1. 1. the act or an instance of urinating

   2. urine

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verb

1. (intr) to urinate

wee ² British  

/ wiː /

adjective

1. very small; tiny; minute

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noun

1. a short time (esp in the phrase bide a wee. )

Etymology

Origin of wee

before 1150 for an earlier sense; Middle English we, variant of wei (small) quantity, Old English wēg, Anglian form of wǣge weight, akin to wegan to weigh ¹

Example Sentences

Earlier, in the wee hours of Sunday, the US space agency published an image taken by the Artemis crew, showing a distant Moon with the Orientale basin visible.

From Barron's • Apr. 5, 2026

I was born in the wee hours of Dec.15, 1980 at St. Mary’s Hospital, now Hoboken University Medical, the same hospital where Frank Sinatra was born.

From Salon • Apr. 4, 2026

They use the nitrogen and other nutrients in wee to produce fertiliser on site, easing the burden on sewage systems as the events run and reducing chemical use.

From BBC • Apr. 2, 2026

We checked into our hotel during the wee hours of the morning, all of us tired, slightly unkempt and desperately in need of a warm shower.

From Salon • Mar. 21, 2026

And I didn’t want to use the toilet because of the poo, which was the poo of people I didn’t know and brown, but I had to because I really wanted to wee.

From "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" by Mark Haddon

Related Words

• microscopic
• teeny