modicum

/ˈmɑdəkəm/

Other forms: modicums

If you want to describe a small amount of something, try modicum. If you have a modicum of interest in something, you are a little bit interested.

Modicum comes from the Latin modicus, for moderate, and modus, for measure. We often use it to mean "any at all," as if "If you had a modicum of sense (i.e. any sense at all), you'd be able to see that the pencil you've spent the last five minutes looking for is tucked behind your ear."

Definitions of modicum

1. noun

   a small or moderate or token amount
   “"England still expects a modicum of eccentricity in its artists"- Ian Jack”

   type of:

   small indefinite amount, small indefinite quantity

   an indefinite quantity that is below average size or magnitude