paucity

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Contents 1 English 1.1 Etymology 1.2 Noun 1.2.1 Synonyms 1.2.2 Translations 1.3 External links

[edit] English

[edit] Etymology

From Latin paucitas (“‘a small number, fewness, scarcity’”) < paucus (“‘few, little’”).

[edit] Noun

paucity (uncountable)

1. Fewness in number; a small number.
   • 1915, Anna Katharine Green, The Golden Slipper, problem 7:

     But when I had crossed the threshold, I was astonished at the paucity of facts to be gleaned from the inmates themselves.

   • 2006, Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman, "Uncle Sam Wants You," Time, 13 July:

     Your tax refund might be late, owing to a paucity of number crunchers.

2. Smallness in size or amount; meagerness.
   • 1898, Mark Twain, "At the Appetite-Cure":

     Now came shipwrecks and life in open boats, with the usual paucity of food.

   • 1915, Gene Stratton-Porter, Michael O'Halloran, ch. 12:

     Here is where the paucity of our language is made manifest.

[edit] Synonyms

• dearth, scantiness, scarcity

[edit] Translations

[edit] External links

• paucity in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• paucity in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• paucity at OneLook® Dictionary Search