Word of the Day Archive
Wednesday June 7, 2006
paucity \PAW-suh-tee\ , noun:
1. Fewness; smallness of number; scarcity.
2. Smallness of quantity; insufficiency.
The relative paucity of documents from this period may help to explain why no mention of David was found for such a long time.
-- Steven L. McKenzie, King David: A Biography
Just three bishops? was a regular observation made on the paucity of episcopal presence at the new dean's installation.
-- "Swiftian bite in Dean's sermon sets an agenda", Irish Times, September 13, 1999
When he came to undertake analysis in adulthood, the paucity of these early memories caused his therapist to wonder whether some painful memories were being repressed.
-- Meryle Secrest, Stephen Sondheim: A Life
From paucity of evidence, we are unable to measure them with precision.
-- Henry Thomas Buckle, History of Civilization in England
Paucity is from Latin paucitas, from paucus, "little, few."
Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for paucity
