small

• adj. 少的，小的；微弱的；幾乎沒有的；不重要的；幼小的
• adv. 小小地；卑鄙地
• n. 小件物品；矮小的人
• n. (Small)人名；(英)斯莫爾

來自古英語 smael,小的，狹窄的，苗條的，來自 Proto-Germanic*smalaz,小的，來自 PIE*smal, 小的。引申諸相關比喻義。

small

small: [OE] Small comes from a prehistoric Germanic *smalaz, which in turn probably goes back ultimately to *smel-, a variant of the Indo- European base *mel- ‘grind’ (source of English meal, mill, etc). Etymologically, therefore, it could well denote ‘ground up into little bits’. Its Germanic relatives, such as German schmal and Dutch smal, have become specialized in meaning to ‘narrow’, but while English did start off down this semantic path, it has long since abandoned it.
=> meal, mill, molar

small (adj.)

Old English smæl "thin, slender, narrow; fine," from Proto-Germanic *smal- "small animal; small" (cognates: Old Saxon, Danish, Swedish, Middle Dutch, Dutch, Old High German smal, Old Frisian smel, German schmal "narrow, slender," Gothic smalista "smallest," Old Norse smali "small cattle, sheep"), perhaps from a PIE root *(s)melo- "smaller animal" (cognates: Greek melon, Old Irish mil "a small animal;" Old Church Slavonic malu "bad"). Original sense of "narrow" now almost obsolete, except in reference to waistline and intestines.

My sister ... is as white as a lilly, and as small as a wand. [Shakespeare, "Two Gentlemen of Verona," 1591]

Sense of "not large, of little size" developed in Old English. Of children, "young," from mid-13c. Meaning "inferior in degree or amount" is from late 13c. Meaning "trivial, unimportant" is from mid-14c. Sense of "having little property or trade" is from 1746. That of "characterized by littleness of mind or spirit, base, low, mean" is from 1824. As an adverb by late 14c.

Small fry, first recorded 1690s of little fish, 1885 of insignificant people. Small potatoes "no great matter" first attested 1924; small change "something of little value" is from 1902; small talk "chit-chat, trifling conversation" (1751) first recorded in Chesterfield's "Letters." Small world as a comment upon an unexpected meeting of acquaintances is recorded from 1895. Small-arms, indicating those capable of being carried in the hand (contrasted to ordnance) is recorded from 1710.

small (n.)

early 13c., "small person or animal," from small (adj.). From c. 1300 as "persons of low rank" (opposed to great); late 15c. as "the small part" of something (such as small of the back, 1530s).

1. It's not about making the amazing saves. It's the little things and small things that made great gatekeepers great.

偉大的門將不是靠神奇的撲救成就，而是靠注重小事和細節成功。（Tim Howard美國國家隊門將）

來自金山詞霸 每日一句

2. Three prisoners were sharing one small cell 3 metres by 2 metres.

3個囚犯關在一個3米長2米寬的小牢房裏。

來自柯林斯例句

3. Albania is a small nation state of around 3 million people.

阿爾巴尼亞是一個大約有300萬人口的單一民族獨立國家。

來自柯林斯例句

4. The Inspector remembered her as a small, mousy woman, invariably worried.

檢察官記得，她是一個矮小、羞怯、總是悶悶不樂的人。

來自柯林斯例句

5. No detail was too small to escape her attention.

再小的細節都逃不過她的眼睛。

來自柯林斯例句