modicum

The story

1. Latin · derived frommodica
2. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*med-“to measure”
3. Latin · derived frommodicum“a little, a small amount”
4. Middle English · inherited frommodicum
5. English todaymodicum

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.

Words from the same roots