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Webster 1913 Edition

Trivial

Triv′i-al

,
Adj.
[L.
trivialis
, properly, that is in, or belongs to, the crossroads or public streets; hence, that may be found everywhere, common, fr.
trivium
a place where three roads meet, a crossroad, the public street;
tri-
(see
Tri-
) +
via
a way: cf. F.
trivial
. See
Voyage
.]
1.
Found anywhere; common.
[Obs.]
2.
Ordinary; commonplace; trifling; vulgar.
As a scholar, meantime, he was
trivial
, and incapable of labor.
De Quincey.
3.
Of little worth or importance; inconsiderable; trifling; petty; paltry;
as, a
trivial
subject or affair
.
The
trivial
round, the common task.
Keble.
4.
Of or pertaining to the trivium.
Trivial name
(Nat. Hist.)
,
the specific name.

Triv′i-al

,
Noun.
One of the three liberal arts forming the trivium.
[Obs.]
Skelton. Wood.

Webster 1828 Edition

Trivial

TRIV'IAL

,
Adj.
[L. trivialis; probably from Gr.; L. tero, trivi, to wear, or from trivium, a highway.]
1.
Trifling; of little worth or importance; inconsiderable; as a trivial subject; a trivial affair.
2.
Worthless; vulgar.
Trivial name, in natural history, the common name for the species, which added to the generic name forms the complete denomination of the species; the specific name. Thus in Lathyrus aphaca, Lathyrus is the generic name, and aphaca the trivial or specific name, and the two combined form the complete denomination of the species. Linne at first applied the term specific name to the essential character of the species, now called the specific definition or difference; but it is now applied solely to the trivial name.

Definition 2024

trivial

trivial

English

Adjective

trivial ‎(comparative more trivial, superlative most trivial)

  1. 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."
  2. Commonplace, ordinary.
    • De Quincey
      As a scholar, meantime, he was trivial, and incapable of labour.
  3. Concerned with or involving trivia.
  4. (taxonomy) Relating to or designating the name of a species; specific as opposed to generic.
  5. (mathematics) Of, relating to, or being the simplest possible case.
  6. (mathematics) Self-evident.
  7. Pertaining to the trivium.
  8. (philosophy) Indistinguishable in case of truth or falsity.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

trivial ‎(plural trivials)

  1. (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

  1. ↑ Wikipedia: Trivium

French

Pronunciation

Adjective

trivial m ‎(feminine singular triviale, masculine plural triviaux, feminine plural triviales)

  1. trivial (common, easy, obvious)
  2. ordinary, mundane
  3. colloquial (language)

Anagrams

German

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /tʁiviˈaːl/
  • Rhymes: -aːl

Adjective

trivial ‎(comparative trivialer, superlative am trivialsten)

  1. trivial (common, easy, obvious)

Declension

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

Portuguese

Adjective

trivial m, f ‎(plural triviais, comparable)

  1. trivial

Spanish

Adjective

trivial m, f ‎(plural triviales)

  1. trivial

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

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈtɹɪ.vi.əl/
  • (CaE) IPA(key): [ˈt(ʃ)ɹɪviˌ(ʊ)l]

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