Word of the Day ： January 17, 2021

modicum

少量

noun MAH-dih-kum

Definition

: a **all portion ： a limited quantity

一小部分：少数量

Examples

"While his narrative on the of the place is interesting and edifying it's the passages about his adventures by land, air and sea that really capture the wild beauty and remoteness of a region he grew to love. And he exhibits more than a modicum of derring-do. 'I have always flown pretty close to the sun,' [Aaron] Smith says." — Phil Brown, The Courier Mail (Australia), 5 Dec. 2020

尽管他对这个地方的**描述很感兴趣、有启发的，有关他在陆地，空中和海上的冒险的片段，确实能**荒野美景和他成长所爱的偏远地域。 他展示了不少大胆的行动。「亚伦」史密斯说： “I have always flown pretty close to the sun” 。

"When the Guardian ran my article on the Visual Perception and Attention Lab at Brunel University London and how it planned to investigate why some gamers invert their controls, I expected a modicum of interest among seasoned readers of the Games section." — Keith Stuart, The Guardian (London), 8 Dec. 2020

当《卫报》在the Visual Perception和伦敦布鲁内尔大学的Attention Lab上发表我的文章时，以及计划如何调查一些游戏玩家的反转控制**，我希望部分游戏的资深读者会对此产生一点兴趣。

Did You Know?

What does modicum have to do with a toilet? It just so happens that modicum shares the same Latin parent as commode, which is a synonym of toilet. Modicum and commode ultimately derive from the Latin noun modus, which means "measure." (We borrowed the noun commode from the French, who also used the word as an adjective meaning "suitable, convenient.") Modicum, which, logically enough, refers to a **all "measure" of something, has been a part of the English language since the 15th century. It descends from the Latin modicus ("moderate"), which is itself a descendant of modus. Modus really measures up as a Latin root—it also gave us mode (originally a kind of musical "measure"), modal, model, modern, modify, and modulate. More distant relatives include mete, moderate, and modest.

Toilet 与 modicum 有什么关系？ 碰巧 modicum 与 commode 共用同一拉丁字母，这与 toilet 的同义词。 Modicum 和 commode 最终源自拉丁语名词 modus，意为“measure「程度、措施」”。 （我们从法语借来了名词 commode，法语也将该词用作形容词的意思是“suitable「**的」，convenient「方便的」”。）Modicum 从逻辑上讲是形容某种事物小的“measure「程度、措施」”，成为英语的一部分是15世纪以后。 它来自拉丁语 modicus（“moderate「适度的」”），后者本身就是 modus 的后代。 Modus 确实可以用作拉丁语词根—它还为我们提供了mode（最初是一种音乐上的“measure”），modal「形态」，model「模范」，modern「现代」，modify「修饰」和modulate「**」。 较远的亲戚包括mete「计量」，moderate「中度」和modest「些许」。

Name That Synonym

What synonym of modicum begins with "s" and can also refer to the dimensions of timber or to a **all piece of lumber?