scant

Definition

Not full, large, or plentiful; scarcely sufficient; scanty; meager.

Etymology

Adjective and determiner from Middle English scant, from Old Norse skamt, neuter of skammr (“short”), from Proto-Germanic *skammaz (“short”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱem- (“mutilated, hornless”). Verb from Middle English scanten, from the adjective. Noun and adverb from Middle English scant, from the adjective.

Example Sentences

• "a scant allowance of provisions or water; a scant pattern of cloth for a garment"
• "His sermon was scant, in all, a quarter of an hour."
• "Another major defect of the current literature dealing with the nomenclature of hybrid forms of English is the scant attention paid to the question of frequency."