different between paucity vs pittance

English

Etymology

From Middle French paucité, from Old French, from Latin paucit?s (“a small number, fewness, scarcity”), from paucus (“few, little”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh?w-, *ph?w- (“few, small”) (English few).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /?p?s?ti/, /?p?s?ti/

Noun

paucity (countable and uncountable, plural paucities)

1. Fewness in number; too few.
2. A smallness in size or amount that is insufficient; meagerness, dearth.
   • 1975, Saul Bellow, Humboldt's Gift [Avon ed., 1976, p. 407]:

     Genteel America was handicapped by meagerness of soul, thinness of temper, paucity of talent.

Synonyms

• (fewness in number): See Thesaurus:fewness
• (smallness in size or amount): dearth, scantiness, scarcity; see also Thesaurus:lack

Related terms

Translations

Further reading

• paucity in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• paucity in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• paucity at OneLook Dictionary Search

English

Etymology

From Old French pitance, pitence, from Medieval Latin *piet?ntia, from Latin piet?s (“piety”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?p?t?ns/, [?p???n?s]
• Hyphenation: pit?tance

Noun

pittance (plural pittances)

1. A small allowance of food and drink; a scanty meal.
2. A meagre allowance of money or wages.
   • 1898, J. Meade Falkner, Moonfleet Chapter 5

     So I went to keep house with him at the Why Not? and my aunt sent down my bag of clothes, and would have made over to Elzevir the pittance that my father left for my keep, but he said it was not needful, and he would have none of it.

3. A small amount.

Translations

Derived terms

• pittancer