Paucity

Pronunciation

• US IPA: /ˈpÉ‘sɪti/, /ˈpÉ”sɪti/

Origin

From Latin paucitas ("a small number, fewness, scarcity"), from paucus ("few, little").

Full definition of paucity

Noun

1. Fewness in number; too few.
• 1915, Anna Katharine Green, The Golden Slipper, problem 7:But when I had crossed the threshold, I was astonished at the paucity of facts to be gleaned from the inmates themselves.
• 2006, Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman, "Uncle Sam Wants You," Time, 13 July:Your tax refund might be late, owing to a paucity of number crunchers.
2. A smallness in size or amount that is insufficient; meagerness, dearth.
• 1898, Mark Twain, "At the Appetite-Cure":Now came shipwrecks and life in open boats, with the usual paucity of food.
• 1915, Gene Stratton-Porter, Michael O'Halloran, ch. 12:Here is where the paucity of our language is made manifest.

Synonyms

• dearth, scantiness, scarcity