beagan

== Scottish Gaelic == === Etymology === From Old Irish becán m (“a little, small quantity”) (compare Irish beagán, Manx beggan). By surface analysis, beag (“small, little”) +‎ -an. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈb̥ekan/, [ˈb̥ëkan] === Noun === beagan m (genitive singular beagain, no plural) a few, a small number beagan mhionaidean ― a few minutes an ceann beagain làithean ― at the end of a few days a little, a small amount, bit, a bit beagan uisge ― a little water beagan bìdh ― a bit of food ==== Usage notes ==== Followed by the genitive case, de and the dative case, or a prepositional pronoun derived from de: beagan ime / beagan de dh'ìm ― a small amount of butter beagan dhinn ― a few of us Used where English uses determiner, adverb or pronoun. beagan chàirdean ― a few friends beagan dhiubh ― a small number of them beagan nas sine ― a bit older / slightly older beagan nas slaodaiche ― a little more slowly Tha i dìreach beagan is còig ceud meatair. ― It’s just a little over five hundred metres. Tha airgead aig beagan. ― A few [people] have money. Bha e doirbh airson bheagain. ― It was difficult for a few. ==== Antonyms ==== mòran ==== Related terms ==== beag === References === === Further reading === Edward Dwelly (1911), “beagan”, in Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan [The Illustrated Gaelic–English Dictionary], 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “becán”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language