exiguus Latin · revision 18096

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=81–43 BC, Cicero|origins=ine-pro *h₂eǵ-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ɛkˈsɪ.ɡu.ʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [eɡˈziː.ɡu.us]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''exiguus''' (feminine exigua, neuter exiguum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed [[af|la|exigō|-uus|t1=to weigh out, demand]], like [[contiguus]] from [[m|la|contingō]];^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) L&S explain the first meaning as “weighed, exact”, hence “scanty”.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) [[m|la|exigō]] is from [[m|la|ex-]] and [[m|la|agō|t=to drive]], which de Vaan derives from [[itc-pro|*ag-e/o-]] and [[ine-pro|*h₂eǵ-e/o-|t=to drive, lead]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler dates it from Cicero,^(Köbler 2010) who says Latin writings are confined ''suīs fīnibus exiguīs sānē'', “to their own boundaries, which are small indeed”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Exiguus'' is “small” in size, “scanty” in amount (Cicero: ''rēs familiāris … valdē exigua est'', “my means are very slender”), and of time “short, brief”.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) Of sounds it is “faint, feeble” (Virgil of the ghosts: ''pars tollere vōcem exiguam'', “some raised a faint cry”), and of things such as praise or comfort “meagre, slight”; it also means “trivial” and of the mind “petty”.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) Wiktionary records the sense “strict, exact”, and as a noun “a poor man”.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Church Latin glosses it “little, scanty, small, short, poor”,^(Stelten 1995) and in Medieval Latin it is also “humble”.^(Niermeyer 1976) English [[m|en|exiguous]] comes from it in the 1650s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero: ''fīnibus exiguīs''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil: ''pars tollere vōcem exiguam''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1650s – English [[m|en|exiguous]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|small]], scanty (in size or amount).^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # Short, brief (of time).^(OLD 2012)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # Faint, feeble (of sounds).^(OLD 2012)

+ # [[m|en|meagre]], slight; trivial, petty.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Strict, exact.^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' Humble.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A poor man.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[exiguitās]]

+ * [[exiguum]]

+ * [[perexiguus]]

+ * [[exiguē]]

+ * [[exiguō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[exigō]]

+ * [[agō]]

+ * [[en|exiguous]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}