scintilla

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“
The idea of a central point of the soul appears in Plotinus and Augustine, and the word scintilla had been used of this faculty before Eckhart.

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Definitions (10)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. noun A minute amount; an iota or trace.
  2. noun A spark; a flash.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (5)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (2)

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Examples (50)

  • So there was a scintilla, or perhaps even two iotas, of hope for her. —  The Color of Her Panties
  • The court went on to determine that the "scintilla" test would create too much ambiguity as well. —  Patent Law Blog (Patently-O)
  • If We combine the latter with the former and apply a scintilla or even a scoash of reasoning the result will be the picture above. —  Editorials from Hell's leading daily newspaper
  • It did not come with high drama or a scintilla of suspense. —  post-gazette.com - News
  • Any clinician with a scintilla of clinical knowledge knows that this moron isn't a psychopath; A screaming narcissist, yes, but, not a psychopath! —  Capitol Hill Coffee House
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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Latin, spark.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. = Old French scintille = Spanish centella = Portuguese scintilla, centelha = Italian scintilla, from Latin scintilla, a spark; cf. Greek σπινθήρ, a spark; perhaps akin to Anglo-Saxon scīnan, etc., shine: see shine. Hence ult. (from Latin scintilla) English scintillate, etc., stencil, tinsel.
 

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/sɪnˈtɪlə/
by American Heritage

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