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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

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English

small

/smɔl/
Not large or big; insignificant; few in number.

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    Origin

    From Middle English smal, smale, small, smalle, smel, smæl, from Old English smæl (“narrow, slim; slender; fine; small; quiet”), from Proto-West Germanic *smal, from Proto-Germanic *smalaz (“small”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mal- (“small; little”).

    Cognates

    Cognate with Scots smaw (“small; minor”), Yola smaale, small (“small”), North Frisian smaal, smeel, smääl (“narrow”), Saterland Frisian smäl (“narrow”), West Frisian smel (“narrow”), Alemannic German schmaal (“narrow”), Bavarian schmoi (“narrow; slender”), Dutch smal (“narrow; small”), German schmal (“narrow; slender”), Low German small (“narrow; slender, small”), Luxembourgish schmuel (“narrow”), Vilamovian śmoł, šmoł (“narrow”), Yiddish שמאָל (shmol, “narrow”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish smal (“narrow; slim”), Gothic 𐍃𐌼𐌰𐌻𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍃 (smalists, “smallest”); also Latin malus (“bad, distressing, nasty; evil, mischievous, wicked; destructive, hurtful, noxious; abusive, hostile, unkind”), Belarusian малы́ (malý, “small”), Bulgarian and Macedonian мал (mal, “small; minor”), Czech and Slovak malý (“small”), Polish mały (“small; little; humble; short”), Russian ма́лый (mályj, “small; short”), Serbo-Croatian ма̑л, mȃl (“small”), Ukrainian мали́й (malýj, “small”).

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • inheritedMiddle Englishsmal
      • inheritedOld Englishsmæl “narrow, slim; slender; fine; small; quiet”
        • inheritedProto-West Germanic*smal
          • inheritedProto-Germanic*smalaz “small”
            • derivedProto-Indo-European*(s)mal- “small; little”

    Related: Scots smaw, Yola smaale, North Frisian smaal, Saterland Frisian smäl, West Frisian smel, Alemannic German schmaal, Bavarian schmoi, Dutch smal, German schmal, Low German small, Luxembourgish schmuel, Vilamovian śmoł, Yiddish שמאָל, da,nb,nn,sv smal, Gothic 𐍃𐌼𐌰𐌻𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍃, Latin malus, Belarusian малы́, bg,mk мал, cs,sk malý, Polish mały, Russian ма́лый, Serbo-Croatian ма̑л, Ukrainian мали́й

    Meanings

    adj
    1. Not large or big; insignificant; few in number.
    2. Humiliated or insignificant.
    3. Having a small penis, muscles, or other important body parts, regardless of overall body size.
    4. Young, as a child.
    5. Minuscule or lowercase, referring to written or printed letters.
    6. Evincing little worth or ability; not large-minded; paltry; mean.
    adv
    1. In a small fashion
    2. In or into small pieces.
    3. To a small extent.
    4. In a low tone; softly.
    noun
    1. One of several common sizes to which an item may be manufactured, smaller than a medium.
    2. An item labelled or denoted as being that size.
    3. One who fits an item of that size.
    4. Any part of something that is smaller or slimmer than the rest, now usually with anatomical reference to the back.
    verb
    1. To make little or less.
    2. To become small; to dwindle.

    Sources

    • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
    • Wiktionary: small