puțin

See also: put in , putin , and Putin

Romanian

Etymology

Uncertain, as with a number of similar words across the Romance languages. Probably from Vulgar Latin *putīnus, a blend/alteration of Latin pisinnus , pittinnus and putillus , pusillus , all meaning "a teeny boy". Compare Aromanian putsãn ; further Albanian picërr , Italian piccino and piccolo , French petit and Occitan pitchoun , Old Logudorese pithinnu , Tarantino piččinnu.^[1]

An alternative, perhaps less likely, theory derives it from a Vulgar Latin root *paucīnus, from Latin paucus ("few, little"). Cf. Italian pochino ("a small amount").

Pronunciation

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IPA ^(key): /puˈt͡sin/
Audio: (file)
Rhymes: -in
Hyphenation: pu‧țin

Determiner

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puțin m or n (feminine singular puțină , masculine plural puțini , feminine/neuter plural puține )

(with uncountable nouns) a little (not much)
Antonym: mult
(with countable nouns) few (not many)
Antonym: mult

Declension

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Declension of *puțin*
singular			plural
masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	puțin		puțină	puțini	puține
nominative- accusative	definite	puținul		puțina	puținii	puținele
genitive- dative	indefinite	puțin		puține	puțini	puține
genitive- dative	definite	puținului		puținei	puținilor	puținelor

Adverb

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puțin

a little, few, a small amount
Synonyms: nițel , un pic (informal ), oleacă (Moldavia (region))

Antonym: mult

Amicii mei înțeleg numai puțin românește.
My friends understand only a little Romanian.

Derived terms

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References

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^ Przemysław Dębowiak, "Contribution à l’étymologie des adjectifs romans signifiant ‘petit’," in Essays in the History of Languages and Linguistics: Dedicated to Marek Stachowski on the Occasion of His 60th Birthday, eds. Michał Németh, Barbara Podolak, & Mateusz Urban (Krakow: Księgarnia Akademicka, 2017), 175–90.

Romanian

Etymology

Pronunciation

Determiner

Declension

Adverb

Derived terms

References

Further reading