puny

puny
\ \ [16] Etymologically, puny means ‘born later’. It was borrowed from Old French puisne, a compound adjective formed from puisafterwards’ and neborn’ (a relative of English native, nature, etc). This signified ‘junior’, in which sense it was originally acquired by English as puisne. This spelling survives (albeit pronounced the same as puny) as a term denoting a judge of junior rank, and the anglicized orthography has since the 18th century been reserved to ‘feeble, small’.
\ \ Cf.NATION, NATIVE, NATURE

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Puny — Pu ny, a. [Compar. {Punier}; superl. {Puniest}.] [F. pu[^i]t[ e] younger, later born, OF. puisn[ e]; puis afterwards (L. post; see {Post }) + n[ e] born, L. natus. See {Natal}, and cf. {Puisne}.] Imperfectly developed in size or vigor; small and… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Puny — Pu ny, n. A youth; a novice. [R.] Fuller. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • puny — index negligible, null (insignificant), paltry, petty Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • puny — Mot Monosíl·lab Nom masculí …   Diccionari Català-Català

  • puny — 1540s, inferior in rank, from M.Fr. puîné, from O.Fr. puisné born later, younger (12c., contrasted with aisné first born ), from puis afterward (from V.L. *postius, from L. postea, from post after ) + O.Fr. né born, from L. natus …   Etymology dictionary

  • puny — *petty, trivial, trifling, paltry, measly, picayunish, picayune Analogous words: feeble, *weak, frail, infirm: *small, little, diminutive: slight, tenuous (see THIN adj) …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • puny — [adj] small, insignificant diminutive, feeble, fragile, frail, half pint*, inconsequential, inferior, infirm, little, measly*, minor, niggling*, nothing, paltry, peanut*, peewee*, petty, picayune, piddling*, pint sized*, runt, shrimp*, small fry* …   New thesaurus

  • puny — ► ADJECTIVE (punier, puniest) 1) small and weak. 2) meagre. DERIVATIVES punily adverb puniness noun. ORIGIN phonetic spelling of PUISNE(Cf. ↑ …   English terms dictionary

  • puny — [pyo͞o′nē] adj. punier, puniest [Fr puîné, born later < OFr puisné < puis, after + né < L natus, born: see NATURE] of inferior size, strength, or importance; weak; slight …   English World dictionary

  • puny — pu|ny [ˈpju:ni] adj [Date: 1500 1600; : Old French; Origin: puisné younger , from puis afterward + né born ] 1.) a puny person is small, thin, and weak ▪ a puny little guy ▪ puny arms 2.) not effective or impressive puny effort/attempt …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • puny — UK [ˈpjuːnɪ] / US [ˈpjunɪ] adjective Word forms puny : adjective puny comparative punier superlative puniest 1) a puny person or animal is small, thin, and weak 2) poor in quality or amount, and not very effective or impressive their puny efforts …   English dictionary

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