modicum

noun

a moderate or small amount: He hasn't even a modicum of common sense.

Origin:
1425–75; late Middle English < Latin, noun use of neuter of modicus moderate, equivalent to modi-, combining form of modus limit (see mode¹) + -cus adj. suffix

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Link To modicum

Collins

World English Dictionary

modicum (ˈmɒdɪkəm)

—n
	a small amount or portion

[C15: from Latin: a little way, from modicus moderate]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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00:10

Modicum is always a great word to know.

So is slumgullion. Does it mean:

a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.

an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.

LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

modicum

"small quantity or portion," c.1470, from Scottish, from L. modicum "a little," neut. of modicus "moderate," from modus "measure, manner" (see mode (1)).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences

Finally, one must applaud Silver's bravery in pointing out that even scientists

approach their trade with a modicum of faith.

The government says its gesture will go some way toward granting the waste

collectors a modicum of dignity.

At least there's a modicum of art or invention in it.

Then again, there might be some modicum of truth to it.

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Matching Quote

"I claim ... that there is a feminine as well as a masculine side to truth ...That as the man is more noble in reason, so the woman is more quick in sympathy. That as he is indefatigable in pursuit of abstract truth, so is she in caring for the interests by the way—striving tenderly and lovingly that not one of the least of these "little ones" should perish. That while we not unfrequently see women who reason, we say, with the coolness and precision of a man, and men as considerate of helplessness as a woman, still there is a general consensus of mankind that the one trait is essentially masculine and the other as peculiarly feminine. That both are needed to be worked into the training of children, in order that our boys may supplement their virility by tenderness and sensibility, and our girls may round out their gentleness by strength and self-reliance. That, as both are alike necessary in giving symmetry to the individual, so a nation or a race will degenerate into mere emotionalism on the one hand, or ballism on the other, if dominated by either exclusively; lastly, and most emphatically, that the feminine factor can have its proper effect only through woman's development and education so that she may fitly and intelligently stamp her force on the forces of her day, and add her modicum to the riches of the world's thought."

-Anna Julia Cooper

modicum

mod·i·cum