All Words > Exiguous

illustration Exiguous

Exiguous

[ek-SIG-yoo-əs]

Part of speech: adjective

Origin: Latin, mid 17th century

1.

Very small in size or amount.

Examples of Exiguous in a sentence

"The teacher is applying for a grant to supplement the exiguous resources."

"The recipe called for an exiguous amount of baking soda."

About Exiguous

This word stems from the Latin “exiguus,” meaning “scanty.” Originally from “exigere,” meaning “weigh exactly.”

Did you Know?

At first glance, you might think that “exiguous” sounds like a word that means expansive, extensive, or excess — essentially, more — because of the “ex-” prefix. But “ex-” in English usually means “out of” or “from.” It can also mean “upwards,” “completely,” “deprived of,” “without,” or “former.” The word’s root verb, “exigere,” can mean “to weigh or measure.” This idea of measuring precisely likely gave “exiguous” its current sense of stinginess.

illustration Exiguous

Recent Words

What's the word?