Standard Lemma guide

exiguity

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • Received-Pronunciation: /ɛɡzɪˈɡjuːɪti/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ɪɡ-/
  • General-American: /ɛɡziˈɡjuiti/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -uːɪti

1

noun

Meaning 1

The quality of being meagre or scanty.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: exiguousness, meagreness, scantiness

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the quality of being meager-George Eliot

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • an exiguity of cloth that would only allow of miniature capes

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: meagerness, meagreness, leanness, poorness, scantiness, scantness

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: insufficiency, inadequacy, deficiency

Narrower terms: wateriness, abstemiousness, sparseness, spareness, sparsity, thinness

History

Etymology

From Middle French exiguite, from Late Latin exiguitas. See exiguous.

Across languages

Translations

17 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: رَكَاكَة (rakāka) — quality of being meagre or scanty — see also meagreness, scantiness
  • Bulgarian: оскъдица (oskǎdica) — quality of being meagre or scanty — see also meagreness, scantiness
  • Esperanto: malabundeco — quality of being meagre or scanty — see also meagreness, scantiness
  • French: exiguïté — quality of being meagre or scanty — see also meagreness, scantiness
  • German: Dürftigkeit — quality of being meagre or scanty — see also meagreness, scantiness
  • German: Spärlichkeit — quality of being meagre or scanty — see also meagreness, scantiness
  • Greek: μικρότητα (mikrótita) — quality of being meagre or scanty — see also meagreness, scantiness
  • Italian: esiguità — quality of being meagre or scanty — see also meagreness, scantiness
  • Italian: sparutezza — quality of being meagre or scanty — see also meagreness, scantiness
  • Polish: skąpość — quality of being meagre or scanty — see also meagreness, scantiness
  • Polish: znikomość — quality of being meagre or scanty — see also meagreness, scantiness
  • Polish: szczupłość — quality of being meagre or scanty — see also meagreness, scantiness
  • Portuguese: exiguidade — quality of being meagre or scanty — see also meagreness, scantiness
  • Romanian: puținătate — quality of being meagre or scanty — see also meagreness, scantiness
  • Russian: ску́дость (skúdostʹ) — quality of being meagre or scanty — see also meagreness, scantiness
  • Spanish: exigüidad — quality of being meagre or scanty — see also meagreness, scantiness
  • Spanish: escasez — quality of being meagre or scanty — see also meagreness, scantiness