meager

C2 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈmiɡɚ/ UK /ˈmiːɡə/ See IPA manual

Freq #26561

Meanings

1

adj
Small in amount and not enough; poor in quality.

They survived on a meager diet of bread and water.
2

adj
Having very little flesh; thin and lean.

His meager frame showed how little he had eaten.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · small in amount and not... exiguous inadequate measly paltry scanty

Word family

Derived forms comeagermeagerly meagernessnonmeager

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

meager living
an income that provides barely enough money to support oneself

Adjective + noun

Etymology

From Middle English megre, from Anglo-Norman megre, Old French maigre, from Latin macer, from Proto-Indo-European *mh₂ḱrós. Akin, through the Indo-European root, to Old English mæġer (“meager, lean”), West Frisian meager (“meager”), Dutch mager (“meager”), German mager, Icelandic magr whence the Icelandic magur, Norwegian Bokmål mager and Danish mager. Doublet of maigre.

*meh₂ḱ- Proto-Indo-European megre Middle English maigre Old French macer Latin *mh₂ḱrós Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# meager

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈmiɡɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈmiːɡə/
**Frequency rank:** 26561

## Meanings
1. Small in amount and not enough; poor in quality.
2. Having very little flesh; thin and lean.

## Examples
- They survived on a meager diet of bread and water.
- His meager frame showed how little he had eaten.

## Derived Forms
- comeager
- meagerly
- meagerness
- nonmeager

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *meh₂ḱ-
- Root: megre
- Root: maigre
- Root: macer
- Root: *mh₂ḱrós

## Etymology
From Middle English megre, from Anglo-Norman megre, Old French maigre, from Latin macer, from Proto-Indo-European *mh₂ḱrós. Akin, through the Indo-European root, to Old English mæġer (“meager, lean”), West Frisian meager (“meager”), Dutch mager (“meager”), German mager, Icelandic magr whence the Icelandic magur, Norwegian Bokmål mager and Danish mager. Doublet of maigre.

## AI Etymology
Meager is from Middle English megre, from Anglo-Norman megre, Old French maigre, from Latin macer, from Proto-Indo-European *mh₂ḱrós. Akin, through the Indo-European root, to Old English mæġer (“meager, lean”), West Frisian meager (“meager”), Dutch mager (“meager”), German mager, Icelandic magr whence the Icelandic magur, Norwegian Bokmål mager and Danish mager. Doublet of maigre. Important recorded forms include *meh₂ḱ- (Proto-Indo-European), megre (Middle English), megre (xno), maigre (Old French), macer (Latin), and *mh₂ḱrós (Proto-Indo-European). Current senses include small in amount and not enough; poor in quality and having very little flesh; thin and lean. The wider family includes derived forms such as comeager, meagerly, meagerness, and nonmeager.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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