[few] pron, pl in constr [ME fewe, pron. & adj., fr. OE feawa; akin to OHG fo little, L paucus little, pauper poor, Gk paid-, pais child, Skt putra son] (bef. 12c): not many persons or things "~ were present" "~ of his stories are true"
[2]few adj (bef. 12c) 1: consisting of or amounting to only a small number "one of our ~ pleasures"
2: at least some but indeterminately small in number--used with a "caught a ~ fish" -- few.ness n -- few and far between : few in number and infrequently met: rare [3]few n, pl in constr (bef. 12c) 1: a small number of units or individuals "a ~ of them"
2: a special limited number "the discriminating ~"