English
exiguous
Exiguous comes from Latin exiguus ‘strict, exact’, from exigō ‘to measure against a standard’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- ‘to drive’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eǵ-1‘to drive’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂éǵeti1‘to be driving’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*agō1‘to drive’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEagō2‘to drive’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexigō3as exigere‘to measure against a standard’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexiguus3‘strict, exact’
- Englishearliest quotation 1889exiguous3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin ago
- 2 Wiktionary, Latin exigo
- 3 Wiktionary, English exiguous
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1889, Robert Louis Stevenson: “The herdboy in the broom, already musical in the…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eǵ-Wiktionary, Latin ago‘to drive’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂éǵetiWiktionary, Latin ago‘to be driving’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*agōWiktionary, Latin ago‘to drive’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEagōWiktionary, Latin exigo‘to drive’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexigōWiktionary, English exiguousas exigere‘to measure against a standard’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexiguusWiktionary, English exiguous‘strict, exact’
- Englishearliest quotation 1889exiguousWiktionary, English exiguous. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1889, Robert Louis Stevenson: “The herdboy in the broom, already musical in the…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- ‘to drive’
suggest, register, essay, acre, gesture, congestion, digest, agrarian, progesterone, gestation, ingestion, belligerent, ingest, agitate, axiomatic, agger, samaj, gerund, gestion, 126 more
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti ‘to be driving’
strategy, agony, antagonist, reactionary, antagonism, agonist, axiom, antagonize, stratagem, glucagon, agonize, 100 more
through Proto-Italic *agō ‘to drive’
reaction, actively, transaction, radioactive, inactive, retroactive, reagent, hyperactivity, unambiguous, ambiguously, 78 more
through Latin agō ‘to drive’
act, action, active, agency, activity, actual, agent, actor, agenda, examination, examine, activate, squat, enact, agile, agility, agitation, ambiguity, radium, actuator, ambiguous, cogent, actuation, actuate, inexact, redact, 95 more
through Latin exigō ‘to measure against a standard’
Today it means
adj Scanty; meager.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “exiguous”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin ago, Latin exigo. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- / exiguous