Meagre

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ˈmiːɡɚ/

Definitions

  1. Insufficient in amount or quality, often referring to a lack of richness or substance in various contexts
  2. Describing something that is sparse or inadequate, conveying a sense of deficiency in both resources and overall abundance
  3. Lacking in richness or quantity, conveying an impression of scarcity and insufficiency across different contexts

Etymology: The adjective known today as "meagre" entered English usage around the late Middle Ages, drawing directly from Old French "meigre," which meant "lean" or "thin." This Old French term itself traces back to the Latin "macra," a feminine form derived from "macrus," meaning "thin" or "lean." The Latin root has connections to the Greek "makros," meaning "long" or "large," though here it underwent semantic narrowing to emphasize slenderness or scarcity rather than size. Originally, the word conjured images of thinness or physical leanness, often describing animals or people who were visibly undernourished or lacking in flesh. Over time, this concrete sense of physical thinness expanded metaphorically to denote scarcity or insufficiency more broadly. By the 16th century, it was common to use the term to describe not just bodily thinness but also meager portions of food, modest sums of money, or scanty resources. The spelling "meagre," with its distinctive "ea" vowel cluster, reflects the word’s Old French heritage and was standardized in English before the alternative American English form "meager" became common. The pronunciation has shifted somewhat, but the core sense of lacking abundance remains central. The term’s evolution illustrates how a word rooted in a simple physical description can grow to express abstract notions of insufficiency and poverty. While the word once strictly evoked images of physical frailty, today it often appears in contexts emphasizing minimal quantity or quality, underscoring a long journey from corporeal thinness to broader conceptual scarcity. This trajectory is a prime example of how language can stretch a single image into varied and nuanced meanings over centuries.

Synonyms: scant, thin, insufficient, skimpy

Antonyms: plentiful, abundant, rich