exiguous

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The Word of the Day for August 31 is:

exiguous   \ig-ZIG-yuh-wus\   adjective 
     : excessively scanty : inadequate 

Example sentence:
     The current evidence supporting her hypothesis is exiguous, but Carla is 
sure she'll get convincing results from the next round of experiments.

Did you know?
     "Exiguous" is so expansive sounding that you might expect it to mean 
"extensive" instead of "meager." Even a scanty glimpse at the word's etymology 
will disabuse you of that notion, however. "Exiguous" derives from the Latin 
"exiguus," which has the same basic meaning as the modern English term. 
"Exiguus," in turn, derives from the Latin verb "exigere," which is variously 
translated as "to demand," "to drive out," or "to weigh or measure." The idea 
of weighing or measuring so precisely as to be parsimonious or petty gave 
"exiguous" its present sense of inadequacy. Just so we aren't accused of being 
skimpy with the details, we should also mention that "exigere" is the parent 
term underlying other English words including "exact" and "exigent."