parvus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈpar.wʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpar.vus]^[1]

Forms

parvus (feminine parva, neuter parvum, comparative minor or parvior, superlative minimus or parvissimus or minerrimus or minimissimus, adverb parvē); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *pauro-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂u-ro- (or *ph₂eu-ro-).^[2] The ⟨-rv-⟩ is from a regular change of *-wr- to *-rw-, as in nervus.^[2][3] Cognate with Ancient Greek παῦρος (paûros, “little, few”), Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐍅𐌰𐌹 (fawai, “few”) and Old English fēa (English few).^[2][4] The same stem with other suffixes is found in paucus and pauper.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,^[2] who uses it of a pot too small to hold something.^[4] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant small in size, amount or degree, short in time, and young, as in ā parvīs “from childhood”.^[4] It also meant of little value, as in parvī pendere “to think little of”, unimportant, and, with animus, petty.^[4] The comparison used minor and minimus, from another root, though Varro and Lucretius have parvissimus.^[4][3]

Döderlein distinguishes parvus, natural smallness, the opposite of magnus, from minūtus, smallness that results from reduction.^[6] In medieval Latin the plural parvī could mean “few”.^[7] It survives in Italian parvo, Spanish parvo and Portuguese parvo.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a small pot.^[4][5]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses the superlative parvissimus.^[4][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of how small the earth is.^[8][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. small, little (in size or extent).^[4]
2. Young, ā parvīs, from childhood.^[4]
3. Small in amount or degree; short (in time).^[4]
4. Of little value, parvī pendere, to think little of.^[4]
5. Unimportant, insignificant.^[4]
6. (with animus) Petty, mean.^[4]
7. (Medieval Latin) (plural) Few.^[7]

Word family

• parvē
• parvibibulus
• parvicollis
• parvifaciō
• parvior
• parvipendō
• parvitās
• paruulum
• parvulus
• parvum
• perparvulus
• perparvus

Related words

• paucus
• pauper
• English few

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.