færrest

Færrest is a grammatical term used in Danish and Norwegian to denote the smallest number among a set of countable items. It is the superlative form of the adjective få, meaning few, and corresponds to the English word the fewest when applied to count nouns.

Usage is with plural count nouns and typically placed before the noun phrase. Examples include de færrest mennesker (the fewest people) and det var de færrest deltagere (that was the fewest participants). Færrest forms part of a trio of related quantities in these languages: færre (fewer) for a smaller number than some reference, færrest (the fewest) for the smallest number, and flest (the most) for the largest number.

Etymologically, færrest reflects the common Germanic development of the adjective få/fá/fe—meaning few—combined with the superlative suffix -est. The construction is standard in both Danish and Norwegian, with minor regional pronunciation and usage differences.

Related terms include færre, the comparative form meaning fewer, and flest, meaning the most. In practice, færrest is used in statistical descriptions, rankings, and comparisons where the emphasis is on identifying the item or group with the smallest quantity.