trivial (redirected from trivialities)

triv·i·al  (trv-l)

adj.

1. Of little significance or value.

2. Ordinary; commonplace.

3. Concerned with or involving trivia.

4. Biology Relating to or designating a species; specific.

5. Mathematics

a. Of, relating to, or being the solution of an equation in which every variable is equal to zero.

b. Of, relating to, or being the simplest possible case; self-evident.

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[Middle English trivialle, of the trivium (from Medieval Latin trivilis, from trivium, trivium; see trivium) and Latin trivilis, ordinary (from trivium, crossroads).]

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trivi·al·ly adv.

Synonyms: trivial, trifling, paltry, petty, picayune
These adjectives all apply to what is small and unimportant. Trivial and trifling refer to what is so insignificant as to be utterly commonplace or unremarkable: "I think all Christians . . . agree in the essential articles, and that their differences are trivial" (Samuel Johnson). "I regret the trifling narrow contracted education of the females of my own country" (Abigail Adams).
Paltry describes what falls so far short of what is required or desired that it arouses contempt: "He . . . considered the prize too paltry for the lives it must cost" (John Lothrop Motley).
Petty can refer to what is of minor or secondary significance or size: "Our knights are limited to petty enterprises" (Sir Walter Scott).
What is picayune is of negligible value or importance: a picayune infraction of the law.

Word History: The word trivial entered Middle English with senses quite different from its most common contemporary ones. We find in a work from 1432-50 mention of the "arte trivialle," an allusion to the three liberal arts that made up the trivium, the lower division of the seven liberal arts taught in medieval universitiesgrammar, rhetoric, and logic. The history of trivial goes back to the Latin word trivium, formed from the prefix tri-, "three," and via, "road." Trivium thus meant "the meeting place of three roads, especially as a place of public resort." The publicness of such a place also gave the word a pejorative sense that we express in the phrase the gutter, as in "His manners were formed in the gutter." The Latin adjective trivilis, derived from trivium, thus meant "appropriate to the street corner, commonplace, vulgar." Trivial is first recorded in English with a sense identical to that of trivilis in 1589. Shortly after that trivial is recorded in the sense most familiar to us, "of little importance or significance," making it a word now used of things less weighty than grammar, rhetoric, and logic.

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trivial [ˈtrɪvɪəl]

adj

1. of little importance; petty or frivolous trivial complaints

2. ordinary or commonplace; trite trivial conversation

3. (Mathematics) Maths (of the solutions of a set of homogeneous equations) having zero values for all the variables

4. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Biology) Biology denoting the specific name of an organism in binomial nomenclature

5. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Biology) Biology Chem denoting the popular name of an organism or substance, as opposed to the scientific one

6. (Historical Terms) of or relating to the trivium

[from Latin triviālis belonging to the public streets, common, from trivium crossroads, junction of three roads, from tri- + via road]

trivially  adv

trivialness  n

Thesaurus

Adj.	1.	trivial - (informal) small and of little importance; "a fiddling sum of money"; "a footling gesture"; "our worries are lilliputian compared with those of countries that are at war"; "a little (or small) matter"; "a dispute over niggling details"; "limited to petty enterprises"; "piffling efforts"; "giving a police officer a free meal may be against the law, but it seems to be a picayune infraction" fiddling, footling, niggling, picayune, piddling, piffling, petty, lilliputian, little colloquialism - a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech unimportant - not important; "a relatively unimportant feature of the system"; "the question seems unimportant"
	2.	trivial - of little substance or significance; "a few superficial editorial changes"; "only trivial objections" superficial unimportant, insignificant - devoid of importance, meaning, or force
	3.	trivial - concerned with trivialities; "a trivial young woman"; "a trivial mind" frivolous - not serious in content or attitude or behavior; "a frivolous novel"; "a frivolous remark"; "a frivolous young woman"

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trivial

adjective unimportant, little, small, minor, slight, everyday, petty, meaningless, commonplace, worthless, trifling, insignificant, negligible, frivolous, paltry, incidental, puny, inconsequential, trite, inconsiderable, valueless, nickel-and-dime (U.S. slang), wanky (taboo slang), chickenshit (U.S. slang) I don't like to visit the doctor just for something trivial.
important, serious, significant, essential, vital, crucial, unusual, considerable, profound, worthwhile, uncommon, weighty

Quotations
"What mighty contests rise from trivial things" [Alexander Pope The Rape of the Lock]

Translations

trivial [ˈtrɪvɪəl] ADJ [details, matter] → trivial, banal; [person] → frívolo; [sum] → insignificante, nimio
I found it all rather trivial → me parecía todo muy trivial

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trivial [ˈtrɪviəl] adj [details, matter, problem, offence, film, conversation] → insignifiant(e)

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trivial

adj

→ trivial; objection, loss, details, matters → geringfügig, belanglos, trivial; mistake → belanglos; look, your health is not something trivial → hör mal, mit der Gesundheit ist nicht zu spaßen!; the trivial round → das triviale Einerlei

person → oberflächlich

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trivial [ˈtrɪvɪəl] adj (matter) → futile; (excuse, comment) → banale; (amount) → irrisorio/a; (mistake) → di poco conto

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trivial [ˈtrɪvɪəl] adj (matter) → futile; (excuse, comment) → banale; (amount) → irrisorio/a; (mistake) → di poco conto

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trivial → تَافِه triviální triviel trivial τετριμμένος trivial vähäpätöinen trivial trivijalan insignificante 些細な 사소한 triviaal triviell błahy trivial тривиальный trivial ไม่สำคัญ önemsiz ít quan trọng 微不足道的