puny
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈpjuːni/
ipa: /ˈpjuni/
homophone: puisne
rhymes: -uːni
Forms: form: punier
form: puniest
Etymology: Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *pós
Proto-Indo-European *-ti
Proto-Indo-European *pós-ti
Proto-Italic *posti
Latin poste
Latin post
Proto-Indo-European *íh₂
Latin ea
Latin posteā
Vulgar Latin *postius
Old French puis
Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁-
Proto-Indo-European *-tós
Proto-Indo-European *ǵn̥h₁tós
Proto-Italic *gnātos
Latin gnātus
Latin nātus
Old French né
Old French puisné
Middle French puisnébor.
English puisne
English puny
 PIE word
 *pós
A respelling of puisne, from Anglo-Norman puisné (“later, more recent; junior; weakly”) [and other forms] and Middle French puisné (“born after (a specified person); younger, youngest; one who is born after (a specified person)”) (modern French puîné (“cadet (born after a sibling); a cadet (someone born after a sibling)”)), from puis (“after; since”) + né (“born”). Puis is derived from Old French pois (“after; since”), from Vulgar Latin *postius (“afterward”), from Latin posteā (“afterwards; hereafter; thereafter; next, then”), from post (“after; since”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pós (“afterwards”)) + ea (“these (things)”); and né from Latin nātus (“born”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- (“to beget; to give birth; to produce”).
Senses: examples: text: You puny earthlings are no match for Ming the Merciless!
text: I had forgot my ſelfe, am I not King? […] Is not the Kings name twenty thouſand names? / Arme arme, my name a puny ſubiect ſtrikes, / At thy great glorie, […]
ref: 1595 December 9 (first known performance), [William Shakespeare], The Tragedie of King Richard the Second. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Valentine Simmes for Androw Wise, […], published 1597, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
english: I have forgotten who I am: am I not the King? […] Is not the King's name worth the names of twenty thousand people? / To arms, my name! An inferior subject strikes / At your great glory, […]
translation: I have forgotten who I am: am I not the King? […] Is not the King's name worth the names of twenty thousand people? / To arms, my name! An inferior subject strikes / At your great glory, […]
bold_translation_offsets: 139
147
text: And twentie of theſe punie lies Ile tell, / That men ſhall ſweare I haue diſcontinued ſchoole / About a twelue moneth: […]
ref: c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv], page 177, column 1:
text: How ſhould puny ſcribblers be abaſhed and diſappointed, when they find him diſplaying a perfect theory of lexicographical excellence, yet at the ſame time candidly and modeſtly allowing that he "had not ſatisfied his own expectations."
ref: 1791, James Boswell, “[1755]”, in James Boswell, editor, The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. […], volume I, London: […] Henry Baldwin, for Charles Dilly, […], →OCLC, page 163:
text: [W]e dart / O'er wave or field: yet breezes laugh to scorn // Our puny speed, […]
ref: 1827, [John Keble], “Twenty-third Sunday after Trinity”, in The Christian Year: Thoughts in Verse for the Sundays and Holydays throughout the Year, volume II, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] [B]y W. Baxter, for J. Parker; and C[harles] and J[ohn] Rivington, […], →OCLC, page 87:
synonyms: word: angular
word: anorexic
word: carrion
word: emaciated
word: gangling
word: gangly
word: gaunt
word: haggard
word: macilent
word: lank
word: lanky
word: leptosome
word: pencil-necked
word: puny
word: rangy
word: rawboned
word: reedy
word: scraggy
word: scrawny
word: skin and bones
word: skinny
word: starved
word: thin as a rake
word: undernourished
word: underweight
word: wasted
word: weedy
word: compact
word: fun size
word: fun-sized
word: ickle
word: insignificant
word: lit'l
word: little
word: low
word: modest
word: mini
word: petty
word: pint-sized
word: pocket-size
word: slim
word: slight
word: small
word: small-scale
word: undersized
word: wee
word: wurly
glosses: Of inferior significance, size, or strength; ineffective, small, weak.
qualifier: south Midland US
glosses: (Frequently) ill; poorly, sickly.
examples: text: Gadsbodkins, you puny Upſtart in the Law, to uſe me ſo, you Green Bag Carrier, you Murderer of unfortunate Cauſes, the Clerks Ink is ſcarce off of your fingers, you that newly come from Lamblacking the Judges ſhooes, and are not fit to wipe mine; […]
ref: 1676 December 11 (first performance), [William] Wycherley, The Plain-Dealer. A Comedy. […], London: […] T[homas] N[ewcomb] for James Magnes and Rich[ard] Bentley […], published 1677, →OCLC, Act III, page 42:
text: WHEN John firſt brought out the Bills, the Surprize of all the Family was unexpreſſible, at the prodigious Dimenſions of them; […] Fees to Judges, puny Judges, Clerks, Prothonotories, Philizers, Chirographers, Underclerks, Proclamators, Counſel, Witneſſes, Jury-men, Marſhals, Tipſtaffs, Cryers, Porters; […]
ref: 1712, Humphry Polesworth [pseudonym; John Arbuthnot], “How John Look’d Over His Attorney’s Bill”, in Law is a Bottomless-Pit. […], London: […] John Morphew, […], →OCLC, page 20:
text: But if you think this Trade to baſe, / (Which ſeldom is the Dunce's Caſe) / Put on the Critick's Brow, and ſit / At Wills the puny Judge of Wit.
ref: 1733, [Jonathan Swift], On Poetry: A Rapsody, Dublin; London: […] [R. Fleming] [a]nd sold by J. Huggonson, […], →OCLC, page 15, lines 237–240:
text: Many thought that he had altogether cut his own throat, and that he would have to take the first "puny" judgeship vacant.
ref: 1871 (date written), Anthony Trollope, “Daniel Thwaite receives his Money”, in Lady Anna. […], volume II, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1874, →OCLC, pages 111–112:
glosses: Alternative spelling of puisne.
Inferior in rank; specifically, of a judge: junior.
glosses: Alternative spelling of puisne.
Coming later in time; secondary, subsequent.
glosses: Alternative spelling of puisne.
Not experienced; novice.
Derived terms: word: punily
word: puniness
word: punyness
word: punyism