Quite a few phrases built around fact--the fact that, in point of fact, and the fact is, for example--are attacked in various handbooks as wordy deadwood. Verdict: few is less than many or most , and could be as much as couple or more than couple. It's all relative. Several came into English in the s, but didn't develop its quantity meanings until the s.
Several initially meant "distinct or separate" in English. Yes, meanings : several originally referred to more than one. They be but one heire, and yet severall persons. By the s, however, several had come to refer to an indefinite number that was not large:. The current having forc'd the Ship upon the shore, where we were constrained to stay for several hours. Several young Men at the Universities, terribly possessed with the fear of Pedantry, run into a worse Extream.
The many meaning is now primarily a dialectal use, fortunately. In use, the connotation of several is that it represents more than a few. We have one helpful citation in our files, sent there by a science editor:.
When he looked at the planet Jupiter, Galileo found that it was accompanied by several small satellites or moons that orbited around it. Hawking, A Brief History of Time , Verdict: in common use, several is often more than a couple and a few , though it is sometimes the same as both and occasionally more than a few. Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!
Log in Sign Up. What to Know Couple is used when referring to two things, as in "a couple of days ago," whereas few and several are less specific. More Words At Play. Few is always plural, for me, that is more than one. Couple is the word I would use to mean , usually. That is, I would mean a small number of is a couple, rather than a small fraction that would mean a few. Few implies a larger context or population. What Brad states reflects what I was thinking as well. Few seems to be relative to the size of the whole.
As for several meaning existing apart makes sense as well. I always think that few and several are not interchangeable, but it is only now that I learned about their proper use. I agree with Brad. I agree with Ali that a couple should be two. But if you look at its use, coupling things together can imply more than two.
But usually coupling involves two at the actual time of coupling. More than two results in polycoupling. From there I tackled few, several and many. Since few is more than 2 and less than several I decided I would use Four to denote a target area for Few. It is the way that our mind records quantities, and why we are not good at appreciating large quantities.
Are you all out of your minds?!? How can a few be two when that is what is meant by a couple, and how can several be three and yet still be more than a few, which—I think most people with two eyes and a brain can see—is more than a couple, or two?
Thank you for indulging my little rant;-. CarlosJonPaulNavia Ha! I rely on the Little, Brown Handbook about questions like these. Grammar Girl also is helpful. Sam kinstlinger Thank you for the info I never would have known that! I proved my families wrong! Definitions are weird you are right!
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