paucal en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- /ˈpɔkəl/ (US)
- päʹkəl (US)
- (Southern-England) audio
- /ˈpɔːkəl/ (UK)
Etymology
From Latin paucālis (“few, little”), from paucus, plural paucī (“few, little, a few, the select few, the oligarchs”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- (“few, little”), + Latin adjective suffix -ālis.
Meanings
- (not-comparable) Characterized by having a small number, greater than two, of (usually equivalent) components.
-
(not-comparable) Pertaining to a language form referring to a few or a couple of something (typically three to around ten), e.g. a small group of people.
first-person paucal
paucal number
paucal and plural pronouns
-
(not-comparable) Expressing a relatively small quantity or degree.
But too much can occur in the negative with a paucal meaning when there is no explicit or implicit infinitival complement: I didn't enjoy it too much is simply an informal alterant of I didn't enjoy it very much.
2002, Rodney Huddleston, Geoffrey K. Pullum, The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language:
Antonyms
multiple (antonym(s) of “few”) · multal
Coordinates
trial · singular · plural · dual
Translations (5)
fr paucal (paucal (adjective)) · ru паука́льный (paucal (adjective)) · la paucālis (paucal (adjective)) · pl kilkukrotny (paucal (adjective)) · bg броен (paucal (adjective))