מָעַט
mâʻaṭ · maw-at'
properly, to pare off, i.e. lessen; intransitively, to be (or causatively, to make) small or few (or figuratively, ineffective)
Lexicon
Derivation: a primitive root;
properly, to pare off, i.e. lessen; intransitively, to be (or causatively, to make) small or few (or figuratively, ineffective)
- properly, to pare off, i.e. lessen
- intransitively, to be (or causatively, to make) small or few (or figuratively, ineffective)
Definition from Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (1890). Wording is Strong's own, including his etymological notes, which are not separate meanings.
KJV renderings: suffer to decrease, diminish, (be, [idiom] borrow a, give, make) few (in number, -ness), gather least (little), be (seem) little, ([idiom] give the) less, be minished, bring to nothing.
Letters
- מMem40
Picture: waves of water
- Concrete
- water · sea · blood · liquid
- Extended
- chaos · mighty and uncontrollable · the masses · from / out of
- עAyin70
Picture: an eye
- Concrete
- eye · spring of water
- Extended
- to see · to know · experience · to watch
- טTet9
Picture: a basket, or something coiled
- Concrete
- basket · coil · snake · container
- Extended
- to surround · to contain · to store · to twist
Possible cultural reading (auto-composed)
water, chaos, the mighty deep › to see and know › to surround and contain
Water, chaos, the mighty deep that works to see and know that works to surround and contain.
Interpretive, not lexical. The dictionary sense of מָעַט above is the attested meaning; this pictographic reading is a tradition about how the sign-shapes may have been heard. Both can be held at once, they are answering different questions.
Usage
22 occurrences · 22 OT · 0 NT · 20 distinct forms
KJV renderings of this word, by how often each one is used.
- shall be diminished2 · 9%
- too little1 · 4%
- some less1 · 4%
- and he that gathered little1 · 4%
- shall not give less1 · 4%
- to the fewness1 · 4%
- thou shalt diminish1 · 4%
- and make you few in number1 · 4%
- he that gathered least1 · 4%
- thou shalt give the less1 · 4%
- ye shall give the less1 · 4%
- ye shall give few1 · 4%
- borrow not a few1 · 4%
- seem little1 · 4%
- and suffereth1 · 4%
- to decrease1 · 4%
- again, they are minished1 · 4%
- because they are few1 · 4%
- lest thou bring me to nothing1 · 4%
- there, and not diminished1 · 4%
- them, and they shall not be few1 · 4%
- for i will diminish1 · 4%
Where it is used, by book.
Inflected forms found in the text.
Counts are computed from the tagged Hebrew and Greek text aligned to the King James Version, not from an estimate.