Sparse
/spɑːrs/noun
Thinly spread out or distributed; not dense or plentiful.
Did you know?Sparse comes through Latin and French from a root meaning “to scatter or separate,” the same deep family behind words like disperse and sparse’s older cousin, sparge.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*sper-
“to scatter, strew, or disperse”
Latin
Latin
spargere
“to scatter, sprinkle, strew”
Late Latin
Latin
sparsus
“scattered, spread out”
Old French
Old French
espars
“scattered, dispersed”
Middle English
English
sparse
“scattered, thinly spread”