Note 447 — Chapter VI · ‘Nicknames.’

‘Littler’ and ‘littlest’ were once the common degrees of comparison. Shakespeare uses the superlative. Mr. Halliwell gives the Norfolk dialect a large range. Besides ‘less’ and ‘least’ he adds ‘lesser’ and ‘lessest,’ ‘lesserer’ and ‘lesserest,’ ‘lesserer still’ and ‘lessest of all,’ and ‘littler’ and ‘littlest.’