Etymologically
Log in

paululum

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 19 October 2026 at 19:46. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Forms

paululum (noun, genitive paululī; adverb)[1] It is also spelled paullulum and pollulum.[1]

Etymology

It is the neuter of paululus (“very little”), used as a noun and an adverb.[1][2] paululus is a diminutive of paulus (“little”);[2] de Vaan places both with paucus (“few”), from Proto-Italic *pauko- and Proto-Indo-European *peh₂u-.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,[3] whose Curculio has “Venus, out of my little I will give you a very little, and not gladly”.[1]

Semantic evolution

As a noun it is only a little, a small amount, often with a genitive, as Plautus' “I made a little booty inside”.[1] As an adverb it means only a little, to a small extent, or somewhat, as Terence's “if you had given up a little of your right”.[1] It is also used of a short distance, as Plautus' “I turned a little off the road”, and of a short time, as Cicero of someone's madness checked for a little while.[1] Church Latin glosses it a short time, a little.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a little gift and a short distance.[1][3][5]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence as an adverb, “somewhat”.[1][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of a short while.[1][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Only a little; a small amount, a little.[1][6]

Adverb

  1. Only to a small extent, little; to a small extent, somewhat, slightly.[1][6][4]
  2. For a short distance; for a short while.[1][4]

References

  1. ^ 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
  2. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  3. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press