different between exiguous vs microscopic

English

Etymology

From Latin exiguus (“strict, exact”), from exigere (“to measure against a standard”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???z??ju.?s/, /???z??ju.?s/

Adjective

exiguous (comparative more exiguous, superlative most exiguous)

1. scanty; meager
   • 1889 — Robert Louis Stevenson, The Wrong Box ch XIII

     The herdboy in the broom, already musical in the days of Father Chaucer, startles (and perhaps pains) the lark with this exiguous pipe.

   • 1912 — G. K. Chesterton, Manalive ch VII

     The path on which I then planted my feet was quite unprecedentedly narrow. I had never had to walk along a thoroughfare so exiguous.

   • 1998 — Michael Ignatieff, Rebirth of a Nation: An Anatomy of Russia. New Statesman, Feb 6.

     They are entering the market, setting up stalls on snowy streets, moonlighting to supplement exiguous incomes.

   • 2012 — Rodger Cohen, Scottexalonia Rising, New York Times, Nov. 26., Op. Ed.

     National politics, as President François Hollande of France is only the latest to discover, is often no more than tweaking at the margins in the exiguous political space left by markets and other global forces.

Derived terms

• exiguate
• exiguity
• exiguously
• exiguousness
• unexiguous

Related terms

• exigency

Translations

English

Etymology

micro- +? -scopic

Pronunciation

• (US) enPR: 'm?kr?'sk?p?k, IPA^(key): /?ma?k???sk?p?k/
• Rhymes: -?p?k

Adjective

microscopic (comparative more microscopic, superlative most microscopic)

1. Of, or relating to microscopes or microscopy; microscopal

2. So small that it can only be seen using a microscope.

3. Very small; minute
4. Carried out with great attention to detail.

5. Able to see extremely minute objects.

   • Why has not man a microscopic eye?

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:tiny

Antonyms

• macroscopic

Related terms

• microscope
• macroscopic
• telescopic

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• naked-eye

Interlingua

Adjective

microscopic (not comparable)

1. microscopic

Related terms

• microscopia
• microscopio

Romanian

Etymology

From French microscopique.

Adjective

microscopic m or n (feminine singular microscopic?, masculine plural microscopici, feminine and neuter plural microscopice)

1. microscopic

Declension