Hairsbreadth

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈhɛəɹzbɹɛdθ/

Definitions

1. An extremely small distance or margin, often used to describe how narrowly something was avoided or achieved
2. A very narrow space or distance that signifies a minimal difference in achievement or failure
3. A measurement indicating a slight gap or margin often used in contexts of close calls or results

Etymology: The word is a plain compound: "hair" plus a linking "-s-" plus "breadth," meaning the width of a hair. Its first half descends from a Proto-Germanic root for "hair" that also gave Old English "hǣr," which became Middle English "her" before settling into modern "hair." The "-s-" is the surprising part. It is not a suffix with a meaning of its own but a connecting sound, the same one found in older compounds where a genitive ending was fused onto the first element, as in "hairs" in the sense of "of a hair." Speakers came to treat "hairs" and "breadth" as a single unit, so the linking sound stuck even though the word no longer needs it. The second element, "breadth," is built from "broad" with the noun-forming ending "-th," the same pattern that produced "length" and "depth." The result is a measurement word that literally names the width of a single strand, which is why it came to stand for any margin too small to measure.

Synonyms: narrow margin, close call

Antonyms: wide margin, great difference