Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The state or character of being small, in any sense of that word.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The quality or state of being small.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun uncountable The state or quality of being
small . - noun countable The result or product of being
small .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the property of being a relatively small amount
- noun the property of having relatively little strength or vigor
- noun lack of generosity in trifling matters
- noun the property of having a relatively small size
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Large things tend to be unwieldy, clumsy, crude; smallness is the realm of elegance and grace.
Narrative Strategies 2009
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For too long, this debate has been stunted by what I call the smallness of our politics – the idea that there isn’t much we can agree on or do about the major challenges facing our country.
Obama: "The Time Has Come For Universal Health Care In America" 2009
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Republicans would do well to align themselves with "smallness" -- small business, the ordinary worker, and the next generation of Americans who will face diminished opportunities if we don't undergo a serious course correction.
Obama's State of the Union address -- and crony capitalism Jennifer Rubin 2011
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They need, however, to be implemented on a grand scale -- not by scaling them up, because their smallness is their beauty and efficiency, but by multiplying them until they become the norm.
350 Degrees of Inseparability: The Good News About the Very Bad News (About Climate Change) 2010
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It adds to the basic concept the notion of smallness (as also in gosling, fledgeling) or the somewhat related notion of contemptible (as in weakling, princeling, hireling).
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In his "Geometria Practica" (1604) Clavius states among other things a method of dividing a measuring scale into subdivisions of any desired smallness, which is far more complete than that given by Nonius and must be considered as the precursor of the measuring instrument named after Vernier, to which perhaps the name Clavius ought accordingly to be given.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 4: Clandestinity-Diocesan Chancery 1840-1916 1913
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The only consequence of their smallness is their inability to perturb others.
Pioneers of Science Oliver Lodge 1895
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"What! live in chambers?" they exclaim with astonishment and horror, recalling the smallness and cheerless aspect of their husbands 'business chambers.
A Book About Lawyers John Cordy Jeaffreson 1866
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Again, if the inherence be in a part, the same contradiction follows: smallness will be equal to the part or greater than the part; therefore smallness will not inhere in anything, and except the idea of smallness there will be nothing small.
Parmenides 427? BC-347? BC Plato 1855
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They need, however, to be implemented on a grand scale -- not by scaling them up, because their smallness is their beauty and efficiency, but by multiplying them until they become the norm.
The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com Rebecca Solnit 2010
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