exiguous
Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary
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[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
From Latin exiguus, "strict, exact," hence "scanty, meager," from exigere, "to measure against a standard."
[edit] Pronunciation
- IPA: /ɪɡˈzɪɡju.əs/, /ɛɡˈzɪɡju.əs/, SAMPA: /Ig"zIgju.@s/ or /Eg"zIgju.@s/
- Audio (US)help, file
[edit] Adjective
exiguous (comparative more exiguous, superlative most exiguous)
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Positive |
Comparative |
Superlative |
[edit] Quotations
| 1889 | 1912 1998 | ||||||
| ME: [[{{{enm}}}]] « | 15th c. | 16th c. | 17th c. | 18th c. | 19th c. | 20th c. | 21st c. |
- 1889 — Robert Louis Stevenson, The Wrong Box ch XIII
- The herdboy in the broom, already musical in the days of Father Chaucer, startles (and perhaps pains) the lark with this exiguous pipe.
- 1912 — G. K. Chesterton, Manalive ch VII
- The path on which I then planted my feet was quite unprecedentedly narrow. I had never had to walk along a thoroughfare so exiguous.
- 1998 — Michael Ignatieff, Rebirth of a Nation: An Anatomy of Russia. New Statesman, Feb 6.
- They are entering the market, setting up stalls on snowy streets, moonlighting to supplement exiguous incomes.
- ???? — Terence Brown, The Life of W. B. Yeats: A Critical Biography.
- Among the pressures provoking these distresses were a father's financial inadequacy and a growing awareness that, by finding employment himself, he could ameliorate the family's exiguous circumstances.
[edit] Translations
extremely scanty
