Etymologically
Log in

parvus

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 02:10. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

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

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.