puțin
Romanian edit
Etymology edit
Uncertain, as with a number of similar words across the Romance languages. Probably from Vulgar Latin *putīnus, a blend/alteration of Latin pisinnus, pittinnus and putillus, pusillus, all meaning “a teeny boy”. Compare Aromanian putsãn; further Albanian picërr, Italian piccino and piccolo, French petit and pitchoun (from Nissart Occitan), Old Logudorese pithinnu, Tarantino piččinnu.[1]
An alternative, perhaps less likely, theory derives it from a Vulgar Latin root *paucīnus, from Latin paucus (“few, little”).[2] Cf. Italian pochino (“a small amount”).
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
puțin m or n (feminine singular puțină, masculine plural puțini, feminine and neuter plural puține)
(determiner)
Declension edit
Declension of puțin
Adverb edit
puțin
- a little, few, a small amount
- Antonym: mult
- Amicii mei înțeleg numai puțin românește.
- My friends understand only a little Romanian.
Synonyms edit
Derived terms edit
References edit
- ^ Przemysław Dębowiak, “Contribution à l’étymologie des adjectifs romans signifiant ‘petit’,” in Essays in the History of Languages and Linguistics: Dedicated to Marek Stachowski on the Occasion of His 60th Birthday, eds. Michał Németh, Barbara Podolak, & Mateusz Urban (Krakow: Księgarnia Akademicka, 2017), 175–90.
- ^ http://www.dex.ro/pu%C8%9Bin