parvus

Latin

Alternative forms

• parvos (Old Latin)

Etymology

From Old Latin parvos, from Proto-Italic *pauros (“few, small”) with sonority hierarchy-related metathesis, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂u-rós, suffixed form of *peh₂w-. Cognate with Ancient Greek παῦρος (paûros), Old Armenian փոքր (pʻokʻr), and the Germanic cognates under Proto-Germanic *fawaz.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈpar.wʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈpar.vus]

Adjective

parvus (feminine parva, neuter parvum, comparative minor or parvior, superlative minimus or parvissimus or minerrimus or minimissimus, adverb parvē); first/second-declension adjective

1. small; little; puny

   Synonym: minūtus

   Antonyms: grandis, magnus, adaequātus

   • 8 CE, Ovidius, Fasti 6.205–208:

     prōspicit ā templō summum brevis ārea Circum,
     est ibi nōn parvae parva columna notae:
     hinc solet hastā manū bellī praenūntia mittī,
     in rēgem et gentēs cum placet arma cāpī.

     Visible from the temple [is] a short open space, [and] the summit of the Circus [Maximus]. There [stands] a small column of no small renown: From this place the custom is to hurl by hand a spear, foretelling of war against a king and his people, [when] it is proper [that] with arms [they are] to be taken.
     (With a symbolic hurling of a spear – originally into enemy territory, later within Rome itself – a fetial gave formal declaration of war.)

2. cheap; petty; trifling; ignorable; unimportant

Usage notes

• In Classical Latin, parvus has a suppletive comparative minor and superlative minimus, which remain the standard forms in Latin literature of all time periods. The analogical forms parvior and parvissimus can be found sporadically in texts from the Late Latin period onwards.
• The superlative has a number of rare collateral variants, which all date to Late Latin.

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	parvus	parva	parvum		parvī	parvae	parva
genitive	parvī	parvae	parvī		parvōrum	parvārum	parvōrum
dative	parvō	parvae	parvō		parvīs
accusative	parvum	parvam	parvum		parvōs	parvās	parva
ablative	parvō	parvā	parvō		parvīs
vocative	parve	parva	parvum		parvī	parvae	parva

Derived terms

• parva
• parvē
• parvibibulus
• parvichālis
• parvicollis
• parviculus
• parvifaciō
• parvificātiō
• parvificentia
• parvificō
• parvihabeō
• parviloquium
• parvior
• parvipendentia
• parvipendium
• parvipendō
• parvipendulus
• parvipēnsiō
• parvipēnsō
• parviponderō
• parvipontānus
• parvipretiō
• parvissimē
• parvissimus
• parvitās
• parvitūdō
• parvius
• parvulīnus
• parvulitās
• parvulō
• parvulum
• parvulus
• parvum
• parvunculus
• perparvulus
• perparvum
• perparvus
• praeparvus

Noun

parvus m (genitive parvī, feminine parva); second declension

1. little boy

   ā parvō/ ā parvīs/ ā parvolō ― since childhood

Declension

Second-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	parvus	parvī
genitive	parvī	parvōrum
dative	parvō	parvīs
accusative	parvum	parvōs
ablative	parvō	parvīs
vocative	parve	parvī

Related terms

• parum
• parumper
• paucus
• paulus
• pauper
• puer

Descendants

Descendants

• Asturian: parva
• Galician: parvo
• Italian: parvo
• Spanish: parvo
• Portuguese: parvo
• Romanian: pârv (possibly)

References

• “parvus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “parvus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "parvus", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “parvus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • from youth up: a puero (is), a parvo (is), a parvulo (is)
    
  • important results are often produced by trivial causes: ex parvis saepe magnarum rerum momenta pendent
    
  • a deep, high, thin, moderate voice: vox gravis, acuta, parva, mediocris
    
  • to be satisfied with a little: paucis, parvo contentum esse
    
  • to buy cheaply: parvo, vili pretio or bene emere
    
  • a thing costs much, little: aliquid magno, parvo stat, constat
    
• Online Latin dictionary, Olivetti