Scant

/skænt/ adjective

Definition

Very small in amount; barely enough or almost not enough of something.

Etymology

From Old Norse 'skamt' meaning 'short.' Vikings and Norse traders brought this word into English around the 1200s, and it originally meant 'having short measure' or 'deficient.' The meaning has remained consistent for nearly 800 years.

Kelly Says

It's wild that a word describing 'not enough' came from Old Norse, the language of Vikings—these seafaring traders needed precise language for measuring cargo and supplies, so 'scant' was essential vocabulary for their trading expeditions.

Translations

AFAfrikaans
skaars
SKAARS
AMአማርኛ
ትንሽ
tinsh
ARالعربية
نادر
naa-DIR
BGБългарски
оскъден
os-KU-den
BNবাংলা
অপ্রতুল
o-pro-tul
CACatalà
escàs
es-KAS
CSČeština
skrovný
SKROV-nee
DADansk
knap
KNAP
DEDeutsch
knapp
KNAP
ELΕλληνικά
λιγοστός
li-go-STOS
ESEspañol
escaso
es-KA-so
ETEesti
napp
NAPP
EUEuskara
urria
u-RRI-a
FAفارسی
نادر
naa-der
FISuomi
niukka
NI-uk-ka
FRFrançais
insuffisant
in-suf-fi-ZAN
GLGalego
escaso
es-KA-so
HEעברית
דל
dal
HIहिन्दी
अपर्याप्त
ap-ryaap-T
HRHrvatski
oskudan
os-KU-dan
HUMagyar
csekély
CHE-keey
IDBahasa Indonesia
terbatas
ter-ba-tas
ITItaliano
scarso
SKAR-so
JA日本語
乏しい
tobo-shii
KO한국어
부족한
bu-jok-han
LTLietuvių
menkas
MEN-kas
LVLatviešu
trūcīgs
tru-CIIGS
MNМонгол
хүрэлцээгүй
khuu-rel-tsee-gui
MSBahasa Melayu
terhad
ter-had
MYမြန်မာ
မပြည့်စုံ
ma-pyay-zone
NLNederlands
schaars
SKHAARS
NONorsk
knapp
KNAP
PLPolski
skąpy
SKOM-py
PTPortuguês
escasso
es-KA-so
RORomână
insuficient
in-sufi-chi-ENT
RUРусский
скудный
SKOOD-nyy
SKSlovenčina
skromný
SKROM-nee
SLSlovenščina
pomanjkljiv
po-manj-KLJIV
SRСрпски
оскудан
os-ku-dan
SVSvenska
knapp
KNAP
SWKiswahili
kidogo
ki-DO-go
TAதமிழ்
குறைவான
ku-rai-vaan
TEతెలుగు
తక్కువ
tak-ku-vu
THไทย
ไม่เพียงพอ
mai phiang paw
TRTürkçe
yetersiz
ye-ter-SIZ
UKУкраїнська
мізерний
mi-ZER-nyy
URاردو
کم
kam
VITiếng Việt
khan hiếm
khan hiem
ZH中文
不足的
bù zú de

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