scarce

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English scars, also scarse,^[2][3] borrowed from Anglo-Norman scars, a shortened form of escars,^[4][5][6][7] beside Old French eschars, modern French échars.^[8][2][7] The Anglo-Norman word is recorded from 1160–74, meaning narrow, scant, in short supply, and also mean or stingy.^[9] Most dictionaries trace it to Vulgar Latin *excarpsus (“plucked out”),^{[10][11][4][12][13]} the past participle of *excarpō (“to pluck out”), an alteration of Latin excerpō (“to pick out, select”),^{[10][11][4][7]} the source of excerpt.^[4][14] The Latin verb is formed from ex- (“out”) and carpō (“to pluck”), the source of carpet.^[4][8] The OED gives the immediate source as Vulgar Latin *scarsus, probably from the older *excarpsus,^[8] and the American Heritage Dictionary glosses the Vulgar Latin form "narrow, cramped".^[10] The same Romance word gave Old Occitan escars, Spanish escaso, Portuguese escasso and Italian scarso, and Middle Dutch schaers, now Dutch schaars, was borrowed from French.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Characterized by scarcity, said of a period of time: about 1290, in the South English Legendary.^[8] The sense "restricted in quantity, scanty" follows in 1297, in Robert of Gloucester's Chronicle,^[8] and Barnhart dates scars, not abundant, scant, meagre, to about 1300.^[11]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the word was used both of things, scanty or in short supply, and of people, stingy or parsimonious;^[7][8][5] Chaucer used scars in the sense "parsimonious".^[15] The sense "stingy" lasted from about 1330 to 1640,^[8] and the French use for a slight, almost calm wind, which the modern French échars still has, appears in English from about 1400 to 1600.^[8] The main modern sense, of food and other goods existing in less than the needed quantity, is first found in Chaucer about 1374,^[8] and "seldom met with, rare" in Trevisa's translation of Bartholomew (1398); the OED notes that this is said chiefly of things that collectors seek, such as books, coins and prints.^[8] Johnson (1755) gave the two senses "not plentiful" and "rare; not common".^[16] The phrase make oneself scarce, to go away, was noted in 1771 as a current cant phrase;^[2] the OED's first record is from 1809,^[8] and Weekley took the phrase to be American.^[17] The adverb, scarcely, hardly, is recorded from before 1325.^[11][2] The American Heritage Dictionary notes how scarce and excerpt diverged in form from one Latin verb, the first by a tangled route through Vulgar Latin and French, the second taken straight from Latin.^[14] In Scotland scarce of meant short of, and in Devon to keep scarce of someone was to keep away from them.^[18]

Timeline

• c. 1290 – of a period of time, marked by scarcity.^[8]
• 1297 – restricted in quantity, scanty (obsolete by 1596).^[8]
• c. 1300 – scars, not abundant, meagre.^[11][2]
• before 1325 – adverb, scarcely.^[11]
• c. 1330 – of people, stingy, miserly (obsolete by 1640).^[8]
• c. 1374 – of food and goods, in short supply, in Chaucer.^[8]
• 1398 – seldom found, rare, in Trevisa.^[8]
• c. 1400 – of wind, slight (obsolete by 1600).^[8]
• 1771 – make oneself scarce, a current cant phrase.^[2]
• 1832 – in collectors' names of butterflies and moths.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Not enough to meet the demand; in short supply: Clean water grew scarce during the drought.^[19][12]
2. Seldom found; rare, especially of things sought by collectors: a scarce early edition.^[19][12][8]
3. make oneself scarce: to leave, especially quickly, or keep out of the way.^[19][8]
4. (obsolete) Sparing with money; stingy or parsimonious.^[12][8]

Adverb

1. (archaic or literary) Scarcely, barely, hardly: She had scarce sat down when the bell rang.^[19][12]

Word family

• scarceness
• scarcement
• unscarce
• scarcely

Related words

• scarcity
• excerpt
• carpet

Usage notes

The phrase (as) scarce as hen's teeth means very rare;^(Word Histories|"(as) scarce as hen’s teeth: meaning and origin", 9 November 2023) Australian English has the humorous as scarce as rocking-horse manure, which Tréguer finds from 1937.^[20]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
4. ^ a b c d e Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
5. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
10. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
11. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
12. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
13. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
14. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
15. ^ Skeat, W. W., ed. (1894), The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, vol. VI: Glossarial Index, Oxford: Clarendon Press
16. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
17. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
18. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
19. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
20. ^ Tréguer, Pascal, Word Histories, wordhistories.net, p. "as scarce as rocking-horse manure: meaning and origin", 28 December 2021