paucity
/ˈpɔs.ɪ.ti/noun
paucity is spelled P-A-U-C-I-T-Y: 7 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 46,473rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, paucity means “Fewness in number; too few” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of paucity is paucities.
How many letters and syllables are in paucity?
| Letters | 7: P-A-U-C-I-T-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 46,473rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is paucity?
Paucity appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 46,473rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce paucity?
- UK /ˈpɒs.ɪ.ti/
- US /ˈpɔs.ɪ.ti/
- US [ˈpɔs.ɪ.ɾi]
Paucity has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-paucity.oga, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of paucity
- paucities plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does paucity mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Fewness in number; too few.
- 2
A smallness in size or amount that is insufficient; meagerness, dearth.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Paucity in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | paucité |
| German | Mangel , Knappheit |
| Portuguese | penúria |
| Spanish | penuria, escasez, paucidad, poquedad, carencia, carestía |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does paucity come from?
From Middle English paucete, paucite, paucyte, partly from Middle French paucité and partly from its etymon, Latin paucitās (“a small number, fewness, scarcity”), from paucus (“few, little”). Related to few.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).