Word.ws English Dictionary

modicum

Syllables: mod·i·cumUK/ˈmɒdɪkəm//ˈmɑdɪkəm/

modicum noun: a modest, small, or trifling amount.

Noun

modicum (plural modicums or (rare) modica)

  1. A modest, small, or trifling amount.
    • Unable to garner even a modicum of support for his plan, he conceded to follow the others.
    • Lo, lo, lo, lo, what modicums of wit he vtters, his euaſions haue ears thus long. I haue bobed his braine more then he has beate my bones.c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Famous Historie of Troylus and Cresseid. […] (First Quarto), London: […] G[eorge] Eld for R[ichard] Bonian and H[enry] Walley, […], published 1609...

modicum meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam

modicum in Tamil

மதிப்புறு சிறுபொருள்

modicum in Urdu

برائے نام, نام کو, تل برابر, ذرہ بھر

modicum in Bengali

খুবই সামান্য, নগণ্য, অল্প পরিমাণ

modicum in Malayalam

അല്പം, സ്വല്പം, കുറച്ച്
More languagesFewer languages
modicum in Kannada
ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಪ್ರಮಾಣ, ಅತ್ಯಲ್ಪ, ಕಿಂಚಿತ್ತು
modicum in Arabic
نَزْر nazr

Examples of modicum in a sentence

  • The constitutional requirement necessitates independent creation plus a modicum of creativity.
  • He [Clement of Alexandria] ſhewes alſo that it is better (if a man do drinke) to take wine at ſupper than at dinner, yet a little modicum [...].1607, T[homas] W[alkington], “That a Diet is to bee Obserued of Eueryone”, in The Optick Glasse of Hvmors. Or The Touchstone of a Golden...
  • For as a Poor Man has as Juſt a Title to the ſmall Modicum he enjoys, as has the Rich Man to his large Poſſeſſions; ſo the Travailer has as good a Title to his Money, as has the Robber to his Life.1708 August 8–10, “Q. I desire your Opinions, whether you think it agreeable to the Laws of Humanity to kill a Man, that Assaults us on the...
  • There he lay quiet and composed, sipping small modicums of brandy and water, and taking his outlook into such transtygian world as he had fashioned for himself in his dull imagination.1876 May – 1877 July, Anthony Trollope, “Poor Caneback”, in The American Senator […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published...
  • I have learned from experience that a modicum of snuff can be most efficacious.1988, Terry Gilliam, Charles McKeown, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, spoken by Baron Munchausen (John Neville):

Synonyms of modicum

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

10 more antonymsFewer antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of modicum

Forms of modicum

pluralmodicums
plural (rare)modica

Origin of modicum

From Middle English modicum, from Latin modicum (“a little, a small amount”), a noun use of the neuter form of modicus (“moderate; restrained, temperate; reasonable”) + -cum (suffix forming neuter nouns). Modicus is derived from modus (“a measure; a bound, limit”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *med- (“to measure”)) + -icus (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives). The plural form modica is derived from Latin modica.

Questions about modicum

What does modicum mean?
Modicum means a modest, small, or trifling amount.
What is modicum in Tamil?
Modicum in Tamil is மதிப்புறு சிறுபொருள். See Modicum meaning in Tamil.
How do you use modicum in a sentence?
The constitutional requirement necessitates independent creation plus a modicum of creativity.
What part of speech is modicum?
Modicum is a noun.
How do you pronounce modicum?
Modicum is pronounced /ˈmɒdɪkəm/ (UK).
What is the plural of modicum?
The plural of modicum is modicums.

Words near modicum in the dictionary

  1. modi vivendi
  2. Modi'in
  3. modica
  4. Modican
  5. modicity
  6. modicum
  7. modicums
  8. Modie
  9. Modies
  10. modif
  11. modif.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: modicum (page history and authors); modicum (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); modicum (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); modicum (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); modicum (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); modicum (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-modicum.mp3.

Cite this entry: “modicum.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/modicum. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.