wee

[wee]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR wee ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective, we·er, we·est.

little; very small.

very early: in the wee hours of the morning.

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 weigh¹

Synonyms for wee

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR wee ON THESAURUS.COM

1. tiny, diminutive; minuscule.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for wee

teeny, microscopic, little, slight, diminutive, minuscule, petite, miniature, infinitesimal, Lilliputian, minute, insignificant, negligible, puny, teensy, teensy-weensy, bitsy, bitty, itsy-bitsy, itty-bitty

Examples from the Web for wee

Contemporary Examples of wee

How about baby drama with little Abijean and the Wee Baby Seamus?
‘Archer’ Creator Adam Reed Spills Season 6 Secrets, From Surreal Plotlines to Life Post-ISIS
Marlow Stern
January 8, 2015
In the wee hours of Christmas morning, a flight deal was shared in an exclusive Facebook group for urban travelers.
‘We Out Here’: Inside the New Black Travel Movement
Charlise Ferguson
January 4, 2015
This was the real deal, we wee Dylanologists told ourselves, this was pure…what?
Digging the Gold in Dylan’s ‘Basement’
Malcolm Jones
November 5, 2014
So, what were Putin and Berlusconi doing in the wee hours of Friday morning?
Was Putin’s Midnight Visit to Berlusconi About Bunga Bunga?
Barbie Latza Nadeau
October 19, 2014
But this new study indicates that Weiner may be (is definitely) going a wee bit overboard.
Wait, We Actually LIKE Spoilers!?
Kevin Fallon
October 16, 2014

Historical Examples of wee

"I'll go downstairs now for a wee while," Mrs. MacDermott said.
The Foolish Lovers
St. John G. Ervine
Aye, but it's that wee bit that makes all the difference, Mr. Cairnduff!
The Foolish Lovers
St. John G. Ervine
"Och, he's mebbe only a wee bit out of sorts," John answered.
The Foolish Lovers
St. John G. Ervine
Sure, you have to tell a wee bit of a lie now and again, or you'd never get your way at all.
The Foolish Lovers
St. John G. Ervine
I thought at first you were having me on, but I think now you're only a wee fool.
The Foolish Lovers
St. John G. Ervine

British Dictionary definitions for wee

wee

adjective

very small; tiny; minute

noun

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

Word Origin for wee

C13: from Old English wǣg weight

wee

noun

the act or an instance of urinating
urine

verb

(intr) to urinate

Also called: wee-wee

Word Origin for wee

of unknown origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for wee

adj.

"extremely small," mid-15c., from earlier noun use in sense of "quantity, amount" (cf. a littel wei "a little thing or amount," c.1300), from Old English wæge "weight" (see weigh). Adj. use wee bit apparently developed as parallel to such forms as a bit thing "a little thing." Wee hours is attested by 1891, from Scot. wee sma' hours (1787, Burns). Wee folk "faeries" is recorded from 1819. Weeny "tiny, small" is from 1790.