Syme

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A tiny trace, scrap or particle of something, a term used in Scottish dialect for the smallest amount
2. Used in Scots to describe a minute amount or speck of something, barely enough to notice at all
3. In Scottish usage, a very small quantity or fragment, such as a mote or the faintest trace of a substance

Etymology: Syme is a Scottish dialect word for a narrow strip of thin, straight-set paper, the kind that might be a little torn from a sheet. Its name comes from the Latin "Sȳmē", the name of a small island off the coast of Caria in what is now southwestern Turkey, which appears in classical Greek and Latin writing. The island's Latin name was borrowed in English, but the word's surface meaning owes nothing to the island and everything to a different name entirely. The more direct link is to "Sim", a short form of the personal name Simon. Scottish speakers used Sim as a familiar, slightly affectionate name, and that pet form gave rise to the word for the paper strip. The connection between a person's nickname and a strip of paper is what makes the history worth tracing: the everyday object is named after a person, not after a place.