trivial
Americanadjective
-
of very little importance or value; insignificant.
Don't bother me with trivial matters.
- Synonyms:
- trifling, frivolous, inconsequential, immaterial, slight, nugatory, unimportant
- Antonyms:
- important
-
commonplace; ordinary.
-
Biology. (of names of organisms) specific, as distinguished from generic.
-
Mathematics.
-
noting a solution of an equation in which the value of every variable of the equation is equal to zero.
-
(of a theorem, proof, or the like) simple, transparent, or immediately evident.
-
-
Chemistry. (of names of chemical compounds) derived from the natural source, or of historic origin, and not according to the systematic nomenclature.
Picric acid is the trivial name of 2,4,6-trinitrophenol.
adjective
-
of little importance; petty or frivolous
trivial complaints
-
ordinary or commonplace; trite
trivial conversation
-
maths (of the solutions of a set of homogeneous equations) having zero values for all the variables
-
biology denoting the specific name of an organism in binomial nomenclature
-
biology chem denoting the popular name of an organism or substance, as opposed to the scientific one
-
of or relating to the trivium
Related Words
See petty.
Other Word Forms
- supertrivial adjective
- trivially adverb
- trivialness noun
- untrivial adjective
- untrivially adverb
Etymology
Origin of trivial
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin triviālis “belonging to the crossroads or street corner,” hence “commonplace,” equivalent to tri- “three” + vi(a) “road” + -ālis adjective suffix; tri-, -al 1
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
