puțin

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puțin

/puˈt͡sin/

Rhymes with -in

Where it comes from

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 Occitan pitchoun, Old Logudorese pithinnu, Tarantino piččinnu.

An alternative, perhaps less likely, theory derives it from a Vulgar Latin root *paucīnus, from Latin paucus (“few, little”). Cf. Italian pochino (“a small amount”).

determiner puțină · puțini · puține · puțin

masculine, neuter, with uncountable nouns a little (not much)
Opposite: mult
masculine, neuter, with countable nouns few (not many)
Opposite: mult

adverb

a little, few, a small amount Amicii mei înțeleg numai puțin românește.
Similar: nițel, un pic, oleacă · Opposite: mult

In English

little not much
slightly to a small extent or degree
a little to a small extent or degree

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Cite this

MLA

"puțin." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/ro/pu%C8%9Bin. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

puțin. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/ro/pu%C8%9Bin

Chicago

"puțin." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/ro/pu%C8%9Bin.

BibTeX

@misc{put_in_2026,
  title = {puțin},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/ro/pu%C8%9Bin},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}