puțin

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.^[1]

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”).

• IPA^(key): /puˈt͡sin/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -in
• Hyphenation: pu‧țin

puțin m or n (feminine singular puțină, masculine plural puțini, feminine and neuter plural puține)

1. (with uncountable nouns) a little (not much)

   Antonym: mult

2. (with countable nouns) few (not many)

   Antonym: mult

puțin

1. a little, few, a small amount

   Synonyms: nițel, un pic (informal), oleacă (Moldavia (region))

   Antonym: mult

   Amicii mei înțeleg numai puțin românește.

   My friends understand only a little Romanian.

• “puțin”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2025