skerrick

/ˈskɛɹɪk/

Etymology

Origin uncertain, possibly a variant of scuddick (“(Northern England, Southwestern England, slang) very small amount; small coin or other object”), possibly related to scud (“(UK, dialectal, dated) piece of twisted straw used to stop up a drain”, noun), scud (“(UK, dialectal, dated) to form straw into scuds”, verb); further etymology unknown.

skerrick means A very small amount or portion; the least bit. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 88 out of 100.

Why this word is great

SKERRICK — [Noun] A very small amount or portion; the least bit. Origin uncertain; first recorded in the 1820s, possibly a variant of the English dialectal term 'scuddick' (a very small amount or small coin), itself of unknown origin. Unlike "iota," which suggests an indivisible particle of something abstract, or "modicum," which implies a small but sufficient measure, a skerrick is a derisory, tangible scrap, defined almost exclusively by its absence. It is the inedible crumb at the bottom of the biscuit tin, the solitary copper coin in a cleaned-out pocket, the ghost of scent in an empty perfume bottle—the humble proof that vanishing is never absolute, but a process of dwindling toward an asymptote of nothing.

noun

A very small amount or portion; the least bit.“From the crate beneath him, Reed fished up a can of aerated mineral water. A label said it had been treated according to most scrupulous hygienic standards. It had been filtered through porcelain and centrifuged until every last skerrick of life had succumbed. Reed read the label and gazed afresh on to the plain of dust. In a world of unscrupulous sterility, skerricks of life down there were scutt”