smallnessn.

a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xvii. i. 885 Trees beeþ dyuers..in gretnesse and in smalnesse, and in strengþe.

?c1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (Paris) (1971) 442 Of strottynge or of waxynge greet of all þe eyȝe and of þe contrarie, lenenesse and of þe smalnes þerof.

1512 Act 4 Hen. VIII c. 19 §14 Nott regardyng the..greatnesse or smalnes of the same penyes.

1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry i. f. 31 Not vnlyke the Beechemast both in colour and fourme, differing onely in the smalenesse.

1630 tr. G. Botero Relations Famous Kingdomes World (rev. ed.) 425 The Sea Oxe differeth nothing from the Land Oxe, save in smalnesse of stature.

1669 J. Worlidge Systema Agriculturæ x. 188 According to the height you raise the water, may you proportion the greatness or smallness of your Engine.

1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 161 The Smallness of my Boat.

1792 A. Young Trav. France 399 The great evil is the smallness of farms.

1802 T. F. Dibdin Introd. Knowl. Rare Ed. Classics Advt. The smallness and closeness of the type.

1840 D. Lardner Treat. Geom. 221 Proportional to the smallness of the pieces into which the sphere is divided.

1884 G. F. Braithwaite Salmonidæ Westmorland ii. 7 They are easily distinguished..by the smallness of their scales.

1930 Burlington Mag. Sept. 127/2 We can trace certain Flémallesque characteristics, such as the smallness of the balls of the eyes.

1994 Sci. Amer. Nov. 67/1 Their explanations have continually been intertwined with the idea of an infinitesimal, an interval of space or time that embodies the quintessence of smallness.

R. Misyn tr. R. Rolle Fire of Love 96 Þe smalnes certan of my mynde can-not opyn itt.

c1484 (a1475) J. de Caritate tr. Secreta Secret. (Takamiya) (1977) 159 (MED) Þei haue a cler and vysibil spyrite of syghte, but it is smal, for qwyche smalnes þei be impotent to se a-ferr.

1557 T. North tr. A. de Guevara Diall Princes Author's Prol. That..the smalnes of my eloquence..shold be lytle regarded.

1558 Bp. T. Watson Holsome Doctr. Seuen Sacramentes xxx. f. clxxxviii^v The healyng of the bodye from corporal diseases..doth not alwaies follow: partly for the smalnes of faythe in the sycke person.

1594 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. II. 291 God..abaseth himselfe to our smallnesse.

1610 H. Hexham tr. J. Polyander Refut. Epist. 12 If they cannot attaine to the totall and perfect knowledge of that matter or question which they handle..they acknowledge only the smalnes of their capacitie.

1641 W. Prynne Antipathie 270 The exilitie and smalenesse of his learning.

1659 J. Davies tr. G. de Costes de La Calprenède Hymen's Præludia: 9th & 10th Pts. ix. iv. 159 With a slow pace, such as argued the smallnesse of his confidence, he goes towards the place where Cleopatra was still set.

a1680 J. Bargrave Pope Alexander VII (1867) i. ii. 9 The embassadors..being the apter to bear with the smallness of his sufficiency.

1711 S. Centlivre Mar-plot v. ii. 53 Is it the unreasonableness of my Request, or the smallness of your Respect, that causes this Hesitation, Senior?

1718 J. Chamberlayne tr. B. Nieuwentyt Relig. Philosopher I. xi. x. 227 The smalness of Human understanding.

1746 D. Brainerd Diary 6 Sept. in J. Edwards Acct. Life D. Brainerd (1765) 207 The smallness of my courage and resolution for God.

1768 J. Blair Chronol. & Hist. World (new ed.) 15 What [telescopes] some others made use of in their Observations were..so indistinct from the smallness of their magnifying Power.

1849 J. R. Beard Illustr. Divine in Christianity vii. 43 In the physical world it is that men are most easily made aware of the smallness of their power.

1895 Med. Sentinel Aug. 303 The greatness of the study and the smallness of our ability prevent us acquiring more than a small portion of all that is called science in medicine.

1911 Econ. Jrnl. June 287 One of the most extraordinary features of the system is, the smallness of the powers conferred upon the representatives of the Crown.

1997 A. Pomerans tr. D. Quinodoz Emotional Vertigo xiii. 174 Renouncing our infantile omnipotence does not mean renouncing the..genuinely powerful aspect of ourselves and being left with our smallness alone.

?1532 Glasse of Truthe sig. B4^v This lawe was trulyer to be obserued in the mysticall sense than in the litterall, and that moste specially nowe by vs christen men: the smalnes of the payne whiche foloweth it, declareth it full well.

1561 T. Norton tr. J. Calvin Inst. Christian Relig. iv. xii. f. 79 This [fasting] consisteth in thre thyngs, in tyme, in qualitie of meates, and in smallnesse of quantitie.

1621 H. Airay Iust & Necessary Apologie 16 The smalnesse of maintenance reserued vpon the Lease for the Incumbent.

1649 E. Reynolds Israels Prayer (new ed.) iii. 12 The greatnes of his work for us to the smalnes of ours unto him.

1677 A. Yarranton England's Improvem. 107 By reason of the..smallness of the Rains..most Rivers are much wanting in Water.

1715 C. Bullock Woman's Revenge i. i. 17 If my Daughter likes your Person, the smallness of your Fortune shan't forbid the Banes.

1770 J. Langhorne & W. Langhorne tr. Plutarch Lives II. 149 They never considered the smallness of his supplies.

1794 S. Williams Nat. & Civil Hist. Vermont 299 Encouraged by the smallness of the taxes.

1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. x. 554 The smallness of the booty disappointed the plunderers.

1885 Manch. Examiner 6 Apr. 4/6 The smallness of the work achieved.

1898 Speaker 12 Mar. 340 When someone expressed surprised to Andrée, just before his departure, on the smallness of his stores, he pointed with grim humour to his cartridges, which he said represented compressed meat.

1921 Chambers's Jrnl. Sept. 614/1 The smallness of the fee..hardly compensated for the insult of being taken for the owner of a ‘push-bike’.

1995 R. J. Moss Life J. Morse i. 2 Dwight complained about the smallness of his salary.

1544 A. Cope Hist. Anniball & Scipio xliii. f. 78 There shoulde not ouer many departe at ones that nyght, to the intent the smallenes of the noumbre, by makynge smalle noyse, myght with their sylence deceiue his ennemies.

1579 T. Churchyard Gen. Rehearsall Warres sig. Q.ij He recouered more Fortes in some one daie, then by strong hande would haue been wonne in a yere, respectyng the smalnesse of his companie.

1610 J. Robinson Justif. Separation from Church of Eng. 130 Neyther the smallnes of the number, nor meannes of the persons can prejudice their right.

1659 R. Brathwait Panthalia 52 Her smallness of Retinue proceeded not from any narrow nor parcimonious humour: but rather from a desire of retirement from popular aspect.

1733 T. Stackhouse New Hist. Bible I. v. ii. 583/2 They upbraided him with the Smallness of his Army.

1781 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall (1787) III. xxix. 127 Such was the smallness of their establishments, or the difficulty of recruiting.

1801 Farmer's Mag. Nov. 469 A large growth of grass,..owing to the comparative smallness of stock kept, remains..to be consumed.

1890 Spectator 3 May The smallness of his party—on his biggest expedition he only had five men..—may partly account for this.

1906 Spectator 28 July 116/2 Britain should not be the first Power to be called upon to reduce her armaments, owing to the smallness of her Army.

2005 S. Lang Accidental Terrorist iv. 30 There are social pressures, perhaps even more intense because of the smallness of the group.

1541 T. Elyot Image of Gouernance xv. f. 27^v Justice limitteth equall punisshement in proportion, accordyng to the importance, that is to saye, The greatnes or smalnesse of the offences.

1646 W. Jenkyn Reformation's Remora 16 The smallnes and inconsiderablenes of the pretext.

1698 Proc. against John Fenwick 319 We are not to let Men escape Punishment according to their greatness or their smallness, but according to the Nature of the Fact, and their Guilt.

1735 G. Berkeley Def. Free-thinking in Math. 24 The smallness of the practical errour no wise concerns it.

1836 Southern Lit. Messenger July 510/2 Your dissertation on the greatness or smallness of German demagogues..is quite superfluous.

1878 Irish Monthly 6 354 ‘What harm in turning these leaves for a moment?’ Not much, perhaps; but the smallness of the matter makes your obedience to the slightest of God's behests..very pleasing in his sight.

1920 Moderator-topics 5 Feb. 326/2 Let nothing tempt you to cross the sacred line of perfect integrity; neither the smallness of the transgression, intention to repay shortly,..or even the pressure of the keenest necessity.

1984 J. G. Lammers Pollution Internat. Watercourses vii. 575 The pollution would in the absence of such an intention not be illegal because of the smallness of injury caused.

2010 Houston Chron. (Nexis) 8 Dec. b8 The intruder only peeked at one kid's personal info. The smallness of that crime makes us smile: We suspect a lovesick eighth grader.

1721 J. Trenchard & T. Gordon in London Jrnl. 8 July 2/1 For all the Absurdity of his Government, and the Smallness of his Soul, he found himself able..to multiply and entail many Evils upon these Kingdoms.

1813 Examiner 31 May 350/1 There is a stiff smallness about his mind.

1836 H. F. Chorley Mem. Mrs. Hemans I. v. 236 She might be sometimes too exclusive, but never voluntarily unfair, or warped by the smallnesses which creep into minds less earnest.

1869 R. D. Blackmore Lorna Doone I. xiii. 151 That was honest enough, and no smallness of me there.

1883 Good Words 24 196 Not one of his children but tried to conquer self and smallness when he was by.

1921 Church Q. Rev. Oct. 183 He was quite free from that smallness of spirit which belittles another man's work merely because of disagreement with his conclusions.

1925 Earl of Crawford Diary 28 Mar. (1984) xv. 507 I..seldom found occasion to criticise him for his smallnesses of character.

2005 T. J. Tejpal Alchemy of Desire 67 Noble men driven to smallness by keening wives, demanding children and grubbing relatives.