LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
adjectivefirst/second-declension adjective

exiguus1

exiguus (feminine exigua, neuter exiguum)
Classical[ɛkˈsɪ.ɡu.ʊs]Ecclesiastical[eɡˈziː.ɡu.us]
Mille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. adjectivestrict, exact
  2. 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

singular
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativeexiguusexiguaexiguum
genitiveexiguīexiguaeexiguī
dativeexiguōexiguaeexiguō
accusativeexiguumexiguamexiguum
ablativeexiguōexiguāexiguō
vocativeexigueexiguaexiguum
plural
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativeexiguīexiguaeexigua
genitiveexiguōrumexiguārumexiguōrum
dativeexiguīsexiguīsexiguīs
accusativeexiguōsexiguāsexigua
ablativeexiguīsexiguīsexiguīs
vocativeexiguīexiguaeexigua

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.

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
noun · masculinesecond declension
exiguus2
exiguus m (genitive exiguī)
Classical[ɛkˈsɪ.ɡu.ʊs]Ecclesiastical[eɡˈziː.ɡu.us]
Mille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. masculinea poor man

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativeexiguusexiguī
genitiveexiguīexiguōrum
dativeexiguōexiguīs
accusativeexiguumexiguōs
ablativeexiguōexiguīs
vocativeexigueexiguī

Origins

Proto-Indo-European *-wós Proto-Italic *-wos Latin -uus Latin exiguus From exig(ō) (“to demand”) + -uus.

Quick answers

What does exiguus mean in Latin?
exiguus, a adjective, means “strict, exact; paltry, inadequate, small, scanty, slight, little”.
How do you pronounce exiguus?
In classical Latin, [ɛkˈsɪ.ɡu.ʊs]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [eɡˈziː.ɡu.us].