smattering

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsmæ.təɹ.ɪŋ/
• IPA^(key): /ˈsmæɾɹ̩ɪŋ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Etymology 1

From smatter +‎ -ing.

Noun

smattering (countable and uncountable, plural smatterings)

1. A superficial or shallow knowledge of a subject.

   She knows a smattering of Greek, but not enough to carry on a conversation.

   • 1529, Thomas More, The Supplycacyon of Soulys [The Supplication of Souls], London: W. Rastell, Book 2,^[1]

     […] he had a lytell smatterynge in the lawe: […]

   • 1694, Mary Astell, A Serious Proposal to the Ladies, for the Advancement of their True and Greatest Interest, London: R. Wilkin, p. 153,^[2]

     If any object against a Learned Education, that it will make Women vain and assuming, and instead of correcting, encrease their Pride: I grant, that a smattering in Learning may; for it has this effect on the Men, none so Dogmatical, and so forward to shew their Parts as your little Pretenders to Science.

   • 1726, Jonathan Swift, Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World [Gulliver’s Travels], London: Benjamin Motte, Volume I, Part 1, “A Voyage to Lilliput,” Chapter 2, p. 30,^[3]

     There were several of his Priests and Lawyers present, (as I conjectured by their habits) who were commanded to address themselves to me, and I spoke to them in as many Languages as I had the least smattering of, which were High and Low Dutch, Latin, French, Spanish, Italian, and Lingua Franca; but all to no purpose.

   • 1951, Sinclair Lewis, World So Wide, Chapter 2,^[4]

     He had only a mail-order smattering of music, painting; he had never read Dante or Goethe nor anything of Shakespeare except the plays on which he had been spoon-fed at Amherst […]

2. A small number or amount of something.

   There’s only a smattering of people who oppose the first amendment.

   • 2004, Dana Goodyear, “Westville,” The New Yorker, 12 April, 2004,^[5]

     More sophisticated dishes, like trout, with a heavy smattering of finely minced rosemary between the filets, are simple and au naturel: the trout comes with a lemon wedge, a bed of mixed greens, and the head.

   • 2011, Suzanne Goldenberg, “The mission to clean up Mount Everest,” The Guardian, 24 October, 2011,^[6]

     By the standards of the 70s, when the main climbing routes were littered with discarded tents and food packets, Everest is a lot cleaner, with just a smattering of plastic bottles and sweet wrappers on the rocky plateau that is base camp.

   • 2016, Teddy Greenstein, “Jim Harbaugh rates Wrigley Field atmosphere 'A+++',” Chicago Tribune, 1 November, 2016,^[7]

     He was introduced to a smattering of boos from the crowd, a sign of the presence of fans from Notre Dame and other Big Ten schools.

Synonyms

• (small amount): see also Thesaurus:modicum.

Translations

superficial knowledge

• Catalan: nocions (ca) f pl
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 皮毛 (zh) (pímáo)

• Dutch: greintje (nl) n
• French: rudiment (fr) m
• German: Halbwissen (de) n, oberflächliche Kenntnis f, bruchstückhafte Kenntnis f, Vorkenntnis f, rudimentäre Kenntnis f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: infarinatura (it)
• Japanese: 少し (ja) (sukoshi), 生噛じり (なまかじり, namakajiri)
• Latin: scientiola f
• Portuguese: laivos m pl (informal)
• Russian: пове́рхностное зна́ние n (povérxnostnoje znánije), кое-что́ (ru) (koje-štó)
• Spanish: chapurreo (es) m, nociones (es) f pl

small number

• Dutch: handvol (nl) n
• German: Handvoll (de) f, kleine Menge f, geringe Anzahl f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: (number) 少数 (ja) (shōsū); (ammount) 少量 (ja) (shōryō)

Etymology 2

From Middle English smateringe, smattrynge, equivalent to smatter +‎ -ing.

Verb

smattering

1. present participle of smatter

Anagrams

• matterings, metastring, ramsetting, termigants