Modicum

//ˈmɒdɪkəm// noun

noun ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A modest, small, or trifling amount.

    "Unable to garner even a modicum of support for his plan, he conceded to follow the others."

  2. 2
    a small or moderate or token amount wordnet

Synonyms

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Example

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"As George Bush has amply demonstrated, being president of the U.S. requires only a modicum of intelligence."

Etymology

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.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.