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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Lesser \Less"er\ (l[e^]s"[~e]r), adjective [This word is formed by adding anew the compar. suffix -er (in which r is from an original s) to less. See {Less}, adjective] Less; smaller; inferior.
God made . . . the lesser light to rule the night. --Gen. i. 15.
Note: Lesser is used for less, now the compar. of little, in certain special instances in which its employment has become established by custom; as, Lesser Asia (i. e., Asia Minor), the lesser light, and some others; also in poetry, for the sake of the meter, and in prose where its use renders the passage more euphonious.
The more my prayer, the lesser is my grace. --Shak.
The larger here, and there the lesser lambs. --Pope.
By the same reason may a man, in the state of nature, punish the lesser breaches of the law. --Locke.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Lesser \Less"er\, adverb Less. [Obs.] --Shak.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
lesser
adjective
1: of less size or importance; "the lesser anteater"; "the lesser of two evils" [ant: {greater}]
2: smaller in size or amount or value; "the lesser powers of Europe"; "the lesser anteater"
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
64 Moby Thesaurus words for "lesser": abated, ablated, attenuated, bated, belittled, common, consumed, contracted, curtailed, decreased, deflated, demeaning, diminished, dinky, disadvantaged, dissipated, dropped, eroded, fallen, humble, in the shade, inferior, infra dig, insignificant, junior, less, low, lower, lowered, lowly, miniaturized, minor, modest, nether, ordinary, reduced, retrenched, scaled-down, second rank, second string, secondary, servile, shorn, shorter, shrunk, shrunken, small, small-fry, small-time, smaller, sub, subaltern, subjacent, subject, subordinate, subservient, third rank, third string, under, underprivileged, vulgar, watered-down, weakened, worn
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