adjectivefirst/second-declension adjective
exiguus1
exiguus (feminine exigua, neuter exiguum)
Classical[ɛkˈsɪ.ɡu.ʊs]Ecclesiastical[eɡˈziː.ɡu.us]
exiguō sg. dat. m.; sg. dat. n.; sg. abl. m.; sg. abl. n.Mille Verba core vocabulary
Meaning
- adjectivestrict, exact
- adjectivepaltry, inadequate, small, scanty, slight, little
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.)29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 4.211–212
Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers
valdē parvus; domus exigua.exiguus -a -um — in Mille Verba, Templum Graecum
scanty
exiguus — in Seneca, ch. XXI
Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms
Parvus · Minutus · Exiguus · Pusillus
Parvus and minutus denote littleness, quite indifferently, and in a purely mathematical sense, without any accessory notion; parvus (παῦρος) a natural and intrinsic littleness, in opp. to magnus, like μικρός; minutus (μινύθω) an artificial and fabricated littleness; whereas exiguus and pusillus with a contemptuous accessory notion; exiguus from (egere) in a pitiable sense, as paltry and insignificant, in opp. to amplus. Planc. ap. Cic. Fam. x. 24; or in opp. to grandis, Quintil. xi. 3, 15; but pusillus (ψιλός?) in a ludicrous sense, as petty, nearly in opp. to ingens, like τυτθός. (v. 28.)
Declension
| form | masculine | feminine | neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | exiguus | exigua | exiguum |
| genitive | exiguī | exiguae | exiguī |
| dative | exiguō | exiguae | exiguō |
| accusative | exiguum | exiguam | exiguum |
| ablative | exiguō | exiguā | exiguō |
| vocative | exigue | exigua | exiguum |
| form | masculine | feminine | neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | exiguī | exiguae | exigua |
| genitive | exiguōrum | exiguārum | exiguōrum |
| dative | exiguīs | exiguīs | exiguīs |
| accusative | exiguōs | exiguās | exigua |
| ablative | exiguīs | exiguīs | exiguīs |
| vocative | exiguī | exiguae | exigua |
Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book
- ad exiguum tempus
- for a short time.
- pecunia exigua or tenuis
- little money.
- brevis or exigui temporis
- for a short time.
- ab exiguis initiis proficisci
- to start from small beginnings.
- exiguae copiae (Fam. 3. 3. 2)
- a small force.
exĭgŭus, a, um, adj. exigo, II. B. 5.; cf. contiguus, from contingo; lit., weighed, exact; hence opp. to abundant, beyond measure; cf.: parvus, pusillus, minutus,
I. scanty in measure or number, small, little, petty, short, poor, mean.
I. Adj. (freq. and class.):
exile et exiguum et vietum cor et dissimile cordis fuisse, Cic. Div. 2, 16, 37; cf.: me corporis exigui, etc., Hor. Ep. 1, 20, 24; and, mus, Verg. G. 1, 181: oratorem ex immenso campo in exiguum sane gyrum compellitis, Cic. de Or. 3, 19, 70; cf.: quoniam exiguis quibusdam finibus totum oratoris munus circumdedisti, id. ib. 1, 62, 264: finis, Hor. C. 1, 18, 10: alteram partem nimis exiguam atque angustam esse voluisti, Cic. Rab. Perd. 3, 9: litterae tuae exiguam significationem tuae erga me voluntatis habebant, id. Fam. 5, 7, 2; exigua et infirma civitas, Caes. B. G. 7, 17, 2; cf.: pars terrae, Cic. Rep. 1, 17: campi, Hor. C. 2, 9, 24: castra, Caes. B. G. 5, 49, 7: aedificia, Hirt. B. G. 8, 5, 1: locus eloquentiae, Quint. 2, 17, 28: toga, Hor. Ep. 1, 19, 13; cf.: torques, id. C. 3, 6, 12: elegi, id. A. P. 77 et saep.: numerus oratorum, Cic. de Or. 1, 4, 16; cf.: copiae amicorum, id. Quint. 1, 2: malorum particula, Juv. 13, 13: copiae, Caes. B. C. 2, 39, 3: fructus, Cic. Par. 6, 3, 49: cibus, Juv. 14, 301: animus, id. 13, 190: facultates, Caes. B. C. 1, 78, 2: census, Hor. Ep. 1, 1, 43: pulvis, id. C. 1, 28, 3: tempus, Cic. de Or. 1, 20, 92; cf.: pars unius anni, id. Rep. 6, 23: pars aestatis, Caes. B. G. 4, 20, 1: laus, Cic. Agr. 2, 2, 5: grandis aut exigua (vox), Quint. 11, 3, 15; so, vox, Suet. Ner. 20.—With gen.: abundans corporis exiguusque animi, Claud. ap. Eutr. 2, 381.—Comp.: aqua exiguior facta, Dig. 43, 11, 1, § 15; ib. 29, 5, 1, § 27; Front. Aquaed. 32: cytisum aridum si dabis, exiguius dato, Col. Arb. 28; Dig. 30, 1, 14 fin.—Sup.: pars exiguissima, Ov. H. 14, 115: legata, Plin. Ep. 7, 24, 7.II. Subst.
A. exĭgŭum, i, n., a little, a trifle (post-Aug.).—With gen.:
exiguum campi ante castra erat, Liv. 27, 27, 13: exiguum spatii, id. 22, 24, 8: aquae, Ov. Tr. 5, 2, 20: mellis, Plin. 28, 9, 37, § 139: temporis, id. Ep. 7, 27, 13: salutis, Sil. 4, 248: exiguum de naturae patriaeque veneno, Juv. 3, 123: exiguo (sc. tempore) post obitum ipsius, a short time after, etc., Plin. 31, 2, 3, § 7; cf.: perquam exiguum sapere, Plin. Ep. 3, 6, 1.—Plur.: res hodie minor est here quam fuit, atque eadem cras Deteret exiguis aliquid, Juv. 3, 23 sq.— B. exĭgŭus, i, m., a poor man:
exiguo conceditur misericordia, Vulg. Sap. 6, 7.— Adv., shortly, briefly; slightly, scantily, sparingly. (a). Form exĭgŭe (class.):
hoc quidem est nimis exigue et exiliter ad calculos revocare amicitiam, too narrowly, Cic. Lael. 16, 58: exigue sumptum praebent (parentes), Ter. Heaut. 1, 2, 33; cf.: ratione inita frumentum se exigue dierum XXX. habere, hardly, Caes. B. G. 7, 71, 4: celeriter exigueque dicere, slightly, briefly, Cic. de Or. 3, 36, 144; cf.: epistola exigue scripta, id. Att. 11, 16, 1: exigue atque frigide laudari, Gell. 19, 3, 1: Vergilius hunc Homeri versum exigue secutus est, to a slight degree, i. e. not closely, id. 9, 9, 16.— (b). Form exĭgŭum (post-Aug.):
dormire, Plin. 10, 77, 97, § 209: sapere, Plin. Ep. 3, 6, 1: tument vela, Luc. 5, 431.—* (g). Form exĭgŭo:
tangere aliquid, Scrib. Comp. 240.Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
exiguus adj. with sup.
2 AG-, strict, exact, scanty, small, little, petty, short, poor, mean, inadequate, inconsiderable, paltry : cor: me Corporis exigui, etc., H.: mus, V.: oratorem in exiguum gyrum compellitis: finis, H.: castra, Cs.: toga, H.: elegi, H.: copiae amicorum: cibus, Iu.: facultates, Cs.: census, H.: pulvis, a little , H.: pars aestatis, Cs.: laus: nec ulli Exiguus populo est (locus), too small for , O.: pars exiguissima, O.— As subst n., a little, trifle : exiguum campi ante castra erat, L.: exiguo adsueta iuventus, V.: temporis, O.: deterere exiguis aliquid, i. e. the remnant , Iu.
Origins
Proto-Indo-European *-wós Proto-Italic *-wos Latin -uus Latin exiguus From exig(ō) (“to demand”) + -uus.
Descendants
- Catalanexigu
- Englishexiguous
- Frenchexigu
- Italianesiguo
- Spanishexiguo
- Portugueseexíguo
- Portugueseesguio
- Welsheisiaufrom Proto-Brythonic *eisɨɣu
In English words that came into English from exiguus
- exiguousexiguus
- exiguityexiguitas