trivial
English
Etymology
- From Latin triviālis (“appropriate to the street-corner, commonplace, vulgar”), from trivium (“place where three roads meet”). Compare trivium, trivia.
- From the distinction between trivium (“the lower division of the liberal arts; grammar, logic and rhetoric”) and quadrivium (“the higher division of the seven liberal arts in the Middle Ages, composed of geometry, astronomy, arithmetic, and music”).[1]
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈtɹɪ.vi.əl/
Audio (US) (file)
Adjective
trivial (comparative more trivial, superlative most trivial)
- Ignorable; of little significance or value.
- 1848, Thackeray, William Makepeace, Vanity Fair, Bantam Classics (1997), 16:
- "All which details, I have no doubt, Jones, who reads this book at his Club, will pronounce to be excessively foolish, trivial, twaddling, and ultra-sentimental."
- 1848, Thackeray, William Makepeace, Vanity Fair, Bantam Classics (1997), 16:
- Commonplace, ordinary.
- De Quincey
- As a scholar, meantime, he was trivial, and incapable of labour.
- De Quincey
- Concerned with or involving trivia.
- (taxonomy) Relating to or designating the name of a species; specific as opposed to generic.
- (mathematics) Of, relating to, or being the simplest possible case.
- (mathematics) Self-evident.
- Pertaining to the trivium.
- (philosophy) Indistinguishable in case of truth or falsity.
Synonyms
- (of little significance): ignorable, negligible, trifling
Antonyms
Derived terms
Translations
of little significance or value
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common, ordinary
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concerned with or involving trivia
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(mathematics) of being the simplest possible case
(mathematics) self-evident
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Noun
trivial (plural trivials)
- (obsolete) Any of the three liberal arts forming the trivium.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Skelton to this entry?)
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Wood to this entry?)
References
Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for trivial in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.)
French
Adjective
trivial (feminine singular triviale, masculine plural triviaux, feminine plural triviales)
- trivial (common, easy, obvious)
- ordinary, mundane
- colloquial (language)
Further reading
- “trivial” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
German
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /tʁiviˈaːl/
Audio (file) - Rhymes: -aːl
Adjective
trivial (comparative trivialer, superlative am trivialsten)
- trivial (common, easy, obvious)
Declension
Positive forms of trivial
number & gender | singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | feminine | neuter | all genders | ||
predicative | er ist trivial | sie ist trivial | es ist trivial | sie sind trivial | |
strong declension (without article) |
nominative | trivialer | triviale | triviales | triviale |
genitive | trivialen | trivialer | trivialen | trivialer | |
dative | trivialem | trivialer | trivialem | trivialen | |
accusative | trivialen | triviale | triviales | triviale | |
weak declension (with definite article) |
nominative | der triviale | die triviale | das triviale | die trivialen |
genitive | des trivialen | der trivialen | des trivialen | der trivialen | |
dative | dem trivialen | der trivialen | dem trivialen | den trivialen | |
accusative | den trivialen | die triviale | das triviale | die trivialen | |
mixed declension (with indefinite article) |
nominative | ein trivialer | eine triviale | ein triviales | (keine) trivialen |
genitive | eines trivialen | einer trivialen | eines trivialen | (keiner) trivialen | |
dative | einem trivialen | einer trivialen | einem trivialen | (keinen) trivialen | |
accusative | einen trivialen | eine triviale | ein triviales | (keine) trivialen |
Comparative forms of trivial
number & gender | singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | feminine | neuter | all genders | ||
predicative | er ist trivialer | sie ist trivialer | es ist trivialer | sie sind trivialer | |
strong declension (without article) |
nominative | trivialerer | trivialere | trivialeres | trivialere |
genitive | trivialeren | trivialerer | trivialeren | trivialerer | |
dative | trivialerem | trivialerer | trivialerem | trivialeren | |
accusative | trivialeren | trivialere | trivialeres | trivialere | |
weak declension (with definite article) |
nominative | der trivialere | die trivialere | das trivialere | die trivialeren |
genitive | des trivialeren | der trivialeren | des trivialeren | der trivialeren | |
dative | dem trivialeren | der trivialeren | dem trivialeren | den trivialeren | |
accusative | den trivialeren | die trivialere | das trivialere | die trivialeren | |
mixed declension (with indefinite article) |
nominative | ein trivialerer | eine trivialere | ein trivialeres | (keine) trivialeren |
genitive | eines trivialeren | einer trivialeren | eines trivialeren | (keiner) trivialeren | |
dative | einem trivialeren | einer trivialeren | einem trivialeren | (keinen) trivialeren | |
accusative | einen trivialeren | eine trivialere | ein trivialeres | (keine) trivialeren |
Superlative forms of trivial
number & gender | singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | feminine | neuter | all genders | ||
predicative | er ist am trivialsten | sie ist am trivialsten | es ist am trivialsten | sie sind am trivialsten | |
strong declension (without article) |
nominative | trivialster | trivialste | trivialstes | trivialste |
genitive | trivialsten | trivialster | trivialsten | trivialster | |
dative | trivialstem | trivialster | trivialstem | trivialsten | |
accusative | trivialsten | trivialste | trivialstes | trivialste | |
weak declension (with definite article) |
nominative | der trivialste | die trivialste | das trivialste | die trivialsten |
genitive | des trivialsten | der trivialsten | des trivialsten | der trivialsten | |
dative | dem trivialsten | der trivialsten | dem trivialsten | den trivialsten | |
accusative | den trivialsten | die trivialste | das trivialste | die trivialsten | |
mixed declension (with indefinite article) |
nominative | ein trivialster | eine trivialste | ein trivialstes | (keine) trivialsten |
genitive | eines trivialsten | einer trivialsten | eines trivialsten | (keiner) trivialsten | |
dative | einem trivialsten | einer trivialsten | einem trivialsten | (keinen) trivialsten | |
accusative | einen trivialsten | eine trivialste | ein trivialstes | (keine) trivialsten |
Related terms
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