Etymograph

English

paucity

Paucity comes from Latin paucitās ‘a small number, fewness, scarcity’, from paucus ‘few, little’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂w-‘few, small’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂ukosreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*paukos‘few’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpaucus‘few, little’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpaucitās‘a small number, fewness, scarcity’
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600paucité
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500paucete
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1650paucity

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂w-‘few, small’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂ukosreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*paukos‘few’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpaucus‘few, little’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpaucitās‘a small number, fewness, scarcity’
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600paucité
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500paucete
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1650paucity

Earliest quotation: 1650, Thomas Browne, Of the Cameleon: “It cannot be denied it [the chameleon] is (if…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- ‘few, small’

few, poor, fewer, pose, puppy, pupil, puppet, pause, pediatrics, filly, pedagogy, pave, orthopedics, puerile, posada, menopausal, pupa, 31 more

Today it means

noun Fewness in number; too few.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- / paucity

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