paucus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈpau̯.kʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpaːu̯.kus]^[1]

Forms

paucus (feminine pauca, neuter paucum, comparative paucior, superlative paucissimus); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *pauko- (“few”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂u- (“few, small”), with the suffix *-ko-.^[2][1] The same root is in parvus “small”, pauper “poor” and paullus “little”.^[2][3]

Cognate with Ancient Greek παῦρος (paûros, “little, few”), Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐍅𐌰𐌹 (fawai, “few”) and Old English fēawe (“few”), the source of English few.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Livius Andronicus onwards.^[2][5] In Plautus someone is told to “put it in a few words”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It was mostly used in the plural pauci, “few”, and the singular, meaning “small in amount”, is rare.^[3][6] As a noun, pauci were “few people”, often the few in power in a state, and pauca “a few words”, so paucis meant “briefly”.^[3][5]

Inter paucos meant “unusually, uncommonly”.^[3] It survives as Italian and Spanish poco, French peu and Portuguese pouco, and English paucity comes from its derivative paucitas.^[1][7]

Timeline

• c. 280/260 – before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus uses it.^[2][5]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses pauca of a few words.^[3][5]
• 170–c. 90 BC – Accius contrasts the many hostile with the few well-wishers.^[3][5]
• late 14th century – English paucity comes from its derivative paucitas.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (plural) Few.^[3][1]
2. inter paucos: uncommonly, unusually.^[3]
3. (singular) Small in amount, little.^[3][1]
4. (plural) A few, some.^[3]
5. pauci (as a noun): few people; the few (in power).^[3][5]
6. pauca (as a noun): few things; a few words, paucis: briefly.^[3]

Word family

• pauca
• paucī
• pauciens
• pauciloquium
• paucitās
• pauculus
• perpaucus

Related words

• parvus
• pauper
• English few
• English paucity

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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 c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com