scarce

Meanings

Adjective

• Uncommon, rare; difficult to find; insufficient to meet a demand.
• Scantily supplied (with); deficient (in); used with of.

Adverb

• Scarcely, only just.

Origin

• , of uncertain origin. One theory is that it derives originally from a Late Latin *scarpsus, *excarpsus, a participle form of *excarpere, from Latin ex- + carpere; yet the sense evolution is difficult to trace. Compare also Middle Dutch schaers ("sparing, niggard"), Middle Dutch schaers ("a pair of shears, plowshare"), scheeren.