Latin edit

Etymology edit

From exig(ō) (to demand) +‎ -uus.

Pronunciation edit

Adjective edit

exiguus (feminine exigua, neuter exiguum); first/second-declension adjective

  1. strict, exact
  2. paltry, inadequate, small, scanty, slight, little
    Synonyms: parvus, brevis
    Antonym: adaequātus
    • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.211–212:
      “Fēmina, quae nostrīs errāns in fīnibus urbem
      exiguam pretiō posuit [...].”
      “A woman, astray, who planted her little town along our shores for a price [...].”
      (A resentful King Iarbas mocks Queen Dido who purchased the land to found Carthage instead of taking it by force.)

Declension edit

First/second-declension adjective.

Number Singular Plural
Case / Gender Masculine Feminine Neuter Masculine Feminine Neuter
Nominative exiguus exigua exiguum exiguī exiguae exigua
Genitive exiguī exiguae exiguī exiguōrum exiguārum exiguōrum
Dative exiguō exiguō exiguīs
Accusative exiguum exiguam exiguum exiguōs exiguās exigua
Ablative exiguō exiguā exiguō exiguīs
Vocative exigue exigua exiguum exiguī exiguae exigua

Derived terms edit

Descendants edit

  • Catalan: exigu
  • Proto-Brythonic: *eisɨɣu
  • English: exiguous
  • French: exigu
  • Italian: esiguo
  • Spanish: exiguo
  • Portuguese: exíguo, esguio

Noun edit

exiguus m (genitive exiguī); second declension

  1. a poor man
    Synonyms: inops, pauper, egens
    Antonyms: opulentus, opulens, locuplēs, dives, dis, ditis

Declension edit

Second-declension noun.

Case Singular Plural
Nominative exiguus exiguī
Genitive exiguī exiguōrum
Dative exiguō exiguīs
Accusative exiguum exiguōs
Ablative exiguō exiguīs
Vocative exigue exiguī

Related terms edit

See also edit

References edit

  • exiguus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • exiguus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • exiguus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
  • exiguus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
  • Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
    • for a short time: brevis or exigui temporis
    • to start from small beginnings: ab exiguis initiis proficisci
    • little money: pecunia exigua or tenuis
    • a small force: exiguae copiae (Fam. 3. 3. 2)
    • (ambiguous) for a short time: ad exiguum tempus
    • (ambiguous) to incur debts on a large scale: grande, magnum (opp. exiguum) aes alienum conflare