scarso

Forms

scarso (feminine scarsa, masculine plural scarsi, feminine plural scarse, superlative scarsissimo)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian scarzo and Old Italian scarscio.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *excarpsus (“thinned out, reduced”), a later remaking of Latin excerptus, the past participle of excerpō (“to pick out, take away”), from ex- and carpō (“to pluck”).^[4][5][6][7] The LEI notes that the form is attested, also as ⟨excarsa⟩, and Wiktionary gives Late Latin scarpsus.^[8][1] The remade form restores the ⟨a⟩ of the simple verb, which had become ⟨e⟩ in the compound;^[9] Devoto suggests the ending ⟨-sus⟩ comes from crossing with sparsus (“scattered”).^[9]

The word is Old French eschars (“miserly”), Occitan escas, Spanish escaso and Portuguese escasso, and it survives in Friulian sciars.^[5][8][10]

De Vaan traces the simple verb to Proto-Indo-European *kerp- (“to pick, pluck”), cognate with Ancient Greek καρπός (karpós, “fruit”) and the Old English word hærfest (“autumn”).^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The LEI's oldest example is the feminine scarsa in Uguccione da Lodi, from Cremona, early in the 13th century.^[8] Nocentini dates the sense “miserly” to the 13th century and “insufficient” to the 14th;^[5][7] Zingarelli gives before 1257.^[5][7]

Semantic evolution

Dante uses scarso for “insufficient” before 1321, and also for “short” in andavam con passi lenti e scarsi (“we went with slow and short steps”) and “sparing, cautious” in fa i padri ai figli scarsi.^[4][6][12] Petrarch's Ho servito a signor crudele e scarso (“I have served a cruel and stingy lord”) shows the old sense “miserly”, which is now obsolete.^[12][13][7] The sense “a little under the fixed measure” is in the Lucca proclamations of 1331–1356, and a moneta scarsa was a coin with less metal than its legal value.^[4][12]

In sailing a vento scarso is a weak or unfavourable wind.^[14][10][15] The noun scarso “shortage” is in Giovanni Villani.^[16][7] The derivatives are old: scarsitade is in Giacomo da Lentini before 1250 and scarsezza in Guittone before 1294, while scarseggiare appears before 1419.^[4] In modern use the adjective also rates a pupil or player as weak.^[6][14]

Timeline

• Early 13th century – Uguccione da Lodi uses scarsa.^[8]
• Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses scarsitade.^[4]
• Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses scarsezza.^[4]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses scarso for “insufficient”.^[4]
• 1331–1356 – The Lucca proclamations use it for “slightly under the measure”.^[4]
• Before 1419 – Giovanni Dominici uses scarseggiare.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. scarce, scanty; less than is needed or expected: un pasto scarso.^[6][12][17]
2. Few in number: scarse speranze.^[6][14]
3. Lacking in something: scarso di fantasia;^[6][12][7] essere scarso a quattrini, to be short of money.^[6][12][7]
4. Not very able or well prepared: scarso in chimica; also a school mark.^[6][12][14]
5. Slightly under a given measure, placed after the noun: un'ora scarsa.^[6][12][17]
6. (of light) Dim;^[7][14] (nautical, of wind) weak or unfavourable.^[7][14]
7. (archaic, literary) miserly, sparing; cautious, reluctant; short, slow.^[6][12][17]

Word family

• scarsità
• scarsezza
• scarseggiare
• scarsamente
• scarsetto

Related words

• carpire
• scerpare
• Latin excerpō

Usage notes

Scarso placed after a measure means “just under”: quattro chili scarsi is a little less than four kilos.^[6][7] The opposite is abbondante.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
3. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
8. ^ a b c d Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 21, 1228
9. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ a b c d e f g h i Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
13. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
14. ^ a b c d e f Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
15. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 884
16. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
17. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse