少

• Note that in Japanese Kanji, Korean Hanja and Vietnamese Nom, the middle stroke of the top component 小 is written 亅 with a hook whereas in modern Chinese scripts the middle stroke is written 丨 with no downward hook.

少 (Kangxi radical 42, 小+1, 4 strokes, cangjie input 火竹 (FH), four-corner 9020₀, composition ⿱𡭔丿(GT) or ⿱小丿(HJKV))

• 仯, 吵, 妙, 㠺, 抄, 沙, 杪, 炒, 䏚, 玅, 眇, 砂, 秒, 竗, 粆, 紗(纱), 耖, 䖢, 觘, 訬, 䟞, 鈔(钞), 䩖, 尠, 㝺, 魦(𫚌), 麨(𪎊), 㝻
• 赻, 尟, 䒚, 歩, 䯯, 劣, 毟, 省, 雀, 㝹, 䲵, 隲, 蠽

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 296, character 20
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 7475
• Dae Jaweon: page 590, character 2
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 561, character 2
• Unihan data for U+5C11

Pictogram (象形) – four dots, perhaps three grains of sand (see 沙), to indicate "a few, a little". Phonetically borrowed from 小 (OC *smewʔ, “small”), which is depicted by three dots.

Unrelated to 步 (and hence 歲), in which the lower component is the stylization of a foot.

少

1. few; little in number; less; not many

   很少人知道實情。 [MSC, trad.]
   很少人知道实情。 [MSC, simp.]

   Hěn shǎo rén zhīdào shíqíng. [Pinyin]

   Very few people know the truth.

   只有很少麵包和餅乾。 [MSC, trad.]
   只有很少面包和饼干。 [MSC, simp.]

   Zhǐyǒu hěn shǎo miànbāo hé bǐnggān. [Pinyin]

   There is only very little bread and biscuits.

2. weak; inadequate; insufficient
3. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) alternative form of 小 (xiǎo, “small; tiny”)
4. to lack; to be short of; to be deficient

   臥室裡少一隻電燈泡。 [MSC, trad.]
   卧室里少一只电灯泡。 [MSC, simp.]

   Wòshì lǐ shǎo yī zhī diàndēngpào. [Pinyin]

   There's a light bulb missing in the bedroom.

   少咗碗飯／少咗碗饭 [Cantonese]  ―  siu² zo² wun² faan⁶ [Jyutping]  ―  missing a bowl of rice

   裝少咗兩粒螺絲 [Cantonese, trad.]
   装少咗两粒螺丝 [Cantonese, simp.]

   zong¹ siu² zo² loeng⁵ lap¹ lo⁴ si¹ [Jyutping]

   forgot to install two screws

5. to reduce (the amount or extent); to weaken; to lose; to stop; to cease

   他屋裡少了東西。 [MSC, trad.]
   他屋里少了东西。 [MSC, simp.]

   Tā wū lǐ shǎo le dōngxi. [Pinyin]

   He lost something in his house.

   少說廢話！／少说废话！  ―  Shǎo shuō fèihuà!  ―  Stop chattering!

6. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to despise; to look down; to belittle
7. slightly; moderately; a little; a bit
8. seldom; rarely; infrequently

   懶惰的人很少會成功。 [MSC, trad.]
   懒惰的人很少会成功。 [MSC, simp.]

   Lǎnduò de rén hěn shǎo huì chénggōng. [Pinyin]

   Lazy people seldom succeed.

9. in a little while; in a moment
10. (Hong Kong Cantonese, Internet slang, neologism) slightly; somewhat

    少癲／少癫 [Hong Kong Cantonese]  ―  siu² din¹ [Jyutping]  ―  somewhat crazy

    Antonym: 大 (daai⁶)

    Alternative form: 小 (siu²)

11. 5th tetragram of the Taixuanjing (𝌊)

• (antonym(s) of “few”): 多 (duō)

少

1. young; youthful; juvenile

   別看她歲數大，可長得少相。 [MSC, trad.]
   别看她岁数大，可长得少相。 [MSC, simp.]

   Bié kàn tā suìshù dà, kě zhǎng dé shào xiàng. [Pinyin]

   Despite her age, she still looked young.

2. later in a sequence; younger; youngest
3. childhood; youth; young period

   • 少小離家老大回 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     少小离家老大回 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: He Zhizhang

     shào xiǎo lí jiā lǎo dà huí [Pinyin]

     Leaving home young, returning home old

4. young man; youngster; junior
5. (historical) deputy; assistant
6. (historical) young master of a rich family

   二少 [Cantonese]  ―  ji⁶ siu³ [Jyutping]  ―  second young master

7. a surname

• “少”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎^[1], 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–
• 莆田市荔城区档案馆 [Putian City Licheng District Archives], editor (2022), “少”, in 莆仙方言文读字汇 [Puxian Dialect Literary Reading Dictionary] (overall work in Mandarin and Puxian Min), page 206.

(Second grade kyōiku kanji)

1. a little

• Go-on: しょう (shō, Jōyō)^{←せう (seu, historical)}
• Kan-on: しょう (shō, Jōyō)^{←せう (seu, historical)}
• Kun: すくない (sukunai, 少ない, Jōyō)、すこし (sukoshi, 少し, Jōyō)、しばらく (shibaraku, 少く)

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Middle Korean readings, if any”)

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [sʰo̞(ː)]
• Phonetic hangul: [소(ː)]
  • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

少 (eumhun 적을 소 (jeogeul so))

1. hanja form^? of 소 (“(to be) little; (to be) few”)

• 소녀 (少女, sonyeo, “girl”)
• 소년 (少年, sonyeon, “boy”)
• 청소년 (靑少年, cheongsonyeon, “adolescent, teenager”)

少: Hán Việt readings: thiếu^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}, thiểu^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}
少: Nôm readings: thiếu^[1][2][3], thiểu^[1][2][3], thểu^[2], thỉu^[2], thẹo^[3], thẻo^[3], ít^[2]

1. chữ Hán form of thiếu (“lack, short on”)
2. chữ Nôm form of ít (“few, little”)
3. chữ Nôm form of thẹo (“scar”)