puțin

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 pitchoun (from Nissart Occitan), 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”)[2]. Cf. Italian pochino (“a small amount”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [puˈt͡sin]

Adjective

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

(determiner)

1. a little, few, little
2. some
3. small (in quantity), little, reduced, meager

Declension

Declension of puțin

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

Adverb

puțin

1. a little, few, a small amount

   Amicii mei înțeleg numai puțin românește.

   My friends understand only a little Romanian.

Synonyms

• pic
• nițel (colloquial)
• oleacă (colloquial)

Antonyms

• mult

Derived terms

• cel puțin
• împuțina
• puținătate
• puțintel

References

1. 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.
2. http://www.dex.ro/pu%C8%9Bin