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Fine Dictionary

trivial

ˈtrɪviəl
WordNet
Interesting fact
Canadians Scott Abbott and Chris Haney invented Trivial Pursuit. They were planning on playing Scrabble and realized that some of the pieces were missing so they came up with the idea of making their own game; Trivial Pursuit
  1. (adj) trivial
    (informal) small and of little importance "a fiddling sum of money","a footling gesture","our worries are lilliputian compared with those of countries that are at war","a little (or small) matter","a dispute over niggling details","limited to petty enterprises","piffling efforts","giving a police officer a free meal may be against the law, but it seems to be a picayune infraction"
  2. (adj) trivial
    concerned with trivialities "a trivial young woman","a trivial mind"
  3. (adj) trivial
    of little substance or significance "a few superficial editorial changes","only trivial objections"
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
Interesting fact
The word "trivia" comes from the Latin "trivium" which is the place where three roads meet, a public square. People would gather and talk about all sorts of matters, most of which were trivial.
  1. Trivial
    Found anywhere; common.
  2. Trivial
    Of little worth or importance; inconsiderable; trifling; petty; paltry; as, a trivial subject or affair. "The trivial round, the common task."
  3. Trivial
    Of or pertaining to the trivium.
  4. Trivial
    One of the three liberal arts forming the trivium.
  5. Trivial
    Ordinary; commonplace; trifling; vulgar. "As a scholar, meantime, he was trivial , and incapable of labor."
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
Interesting fact
It is a well known trivial fact that Neil Armstrong was the first man to step onto the moon. However, many do not know that he stepped onto the moon with his left foot.
  1. trivial
    Such as may be found everywhere; commonplace; ordinary; vulgar.
  2. trivial
    Trifling; insignificant; of little worth or importance; paltry.
  3. trivial
    Occupying one's self with trifles; trifling.
  4. trivial
    Of or pertaining to the trivium, or the first three liberal arts—grammar, rhetoric, and logic; hence, initiatory; rudimentary.
  5. trivial
    In zoology and botany: Common; popular; vernacular; not technical: noting the popular or familiar names of animals or plants, as distinguished from the technical New Latin names.
  6. trivial
    Specific; not generic: noting what used to be called the nomen triviale—that is, the second or specific term in the binomial technical name of an animal or a plant, such terms being often adopted or adapted from a popular name or epithet. Thus, in the several designations Homo sapiens, Felis leo, Mus muscutus, Rosa canina, the words sapiens, leo, musculus, and canina are respectively the trivial names of the species they designate. See specific, 3 .
  7. trivial
    In echinoderms, specifically, of or pertaining to the trivium: as, the trivial (anterior) ambulacra of a sea-urchin.
  8. (n) trivial
    One of the three liberal arts which constitute the trivium.
  9. (n) trivial
    A coefficient or other quantity not containing the quantities of the set considered.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
  1. (adj) Trivial
    triv′i-al that may be found anywhere, of little importance; trifling: common, vernacular
Quotations
Julius Caesar
In war, events of importance are the result of trivial causes.
Julius Caesar
John Fowles
Duty largely consists of pretending that the trivial is critical.
John Fowles
While gossip among women is universally ridiculed as low and trivial, gossip among men, especially if it is about women, is called theory, or idea, or fact.
Andrea Dworkin
Oscar Wilde
Those who are faithful know only the trivial side of love: it is the faithless who know love's tragedies.
Oscar Wilde
Good sense about trivialities is better than nonsense about things that matter.
Sir Max Beerbohm
Bertrand Russell
Patriotism is the willingness to kill and be killed for trivial reasons.
Bertrand Russell
Etymology

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary 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

Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary L. trivialis, (lit.) 'at the cross-roads or public streets'—trivium, a place where three ways meet—tres, three, via, a way.

Usage in the news

Christmas cards a font of wisdom, triviality . portorchardindependent.com

We've seen media seize on a parade of trivial statements in campaign. cnn.com

Obama and Romney campaigns shouldn't trivialize the presidential race. rochestercitynewspaper.com

Beginning with the article's title, "Choo-choo Fantasies" (May 24), Ryan Burns seeks to trivialize the concept of an east-west railroad by ridiculing its potential supporters. northcoastjournal.com

BACK during the Internet boom, there seemed to be no advertising deal or marketing partnership too trivial for America Online to trumpet with a glowing press release. nytimes.com

We'll have this completely trivialized in another few days. bez.org

TSA observers note violations, even trivial, by Newark airport screeners. nj.com

In the grand scheme of things, sports are trivial. espn.go.com

Romney's Adoption Remark Trivializes Gay Inequalities. advocate.com

Where we get mad, and you get trivial. hrwfm.org

) However, The Weather Channel 's interpretation of naming winter storms will only trivialize the process and make people immune to the potential impacts of more severe weather events. kake.com

At Alan Clark , we believe that no situation is too serious or too trivial for our superior service. ibw.com

That was Judge Mark A Ciavarella's rigid formula for dealing with even trivial juvenile misconduct, and the tough boss of "kiddie court" philly.com

Ace returns to Mick Jeffries' Trivial Thursdays on WRFL 88.1 Thursday, August 12, 2010 at 7 am for "a very special Best of Lexington preview.". aceweekly.com

Thanksgiving Trivial Pursuit game ends with arrest/hatchet. b93radio.com

Usage in scientific papers

Example 1.(trivial actions) Assume that H acts trivially on A, i.e., h · a = ǫ(h)a for all h ∈ H, a ∈ A.
Equivariant Cyclic Cohomology of H-Algebras

The moduli space of three or less points on a sphere is trivial (see below), so non-trivial constraints arise for the first time from the four-point blocks.
Conformal field theory, boundary conditions and applications to string theory

Suppose that ρ is a small deformation of the trivial representation, so that Eρ is a topologically trivial bundle.
Codimension one symplectic foliations

Thus, every function M leads to two solutions: one with trivial Y and one with non-trivial Y , satisfying Eq. (51).
Static charged perfect fluid spheres in general relativity

Note also that the induction functor Moda → Moda is trivial because Moda is trivial. 9.3.
Induced and simple modules of double affine Hecke algebras

Usage in literature

They seemed strangely trivial and unmeaning compared to the exhilarating present. "The Emigrant Trail" by Geraldine Bonner

Such people do not talk about trivialities when they are thinking about much more serious concerns. "The Mummy and Miss Nitocris" by George Griffith

No matter how trivial. "The Triumphs of Eugène Valmont" by Robert Barr

Our conversation was trivial, unimportant, but kind and gentle. "The Fifth Wheel" by Olive Higgins Prouty

They succeeded in obtaining the withdrawal of 6148 complaints, as being trivial, or based upon prejudice or passion. "Lights and Shadows of New York Life" by James D. McCabe

We needed these trivial occurrences to keep us sane and human. "Kitchener's Mob" by James Norman Hall

Another unfortunate tendency among the Arabs was their liking for the discussion of many trivial questions. "Old-Time Makers of Medicine" by James J. Walsh

After a trivial delay of perhaps 40 minutes, the D.C.L.I. "The Story of the 2/4th Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry" by G. K. Rose

They had never appeared more remote and trivial. "The Coast of Chance" by Esther Chamberlain

To the mean eye all things are trivial, as certainly as to the jaundiced they are yellow. "Sartor Resartus, and On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History" by Thomas Carlyle

Usage in poetry
An Ape is but a trivial beast,
Men count it light and vain;
But I would let them have their thoughts,
To have my Ape again.
NAY, blame me not; I might have spared
Your patience many a trivial verse,
Yet these my earlier welcome shared,
So, let the better shield the worse.
X. Oh no! for though the MANY slight,
Thou know'st at least my trivial worth,
For thou (who best canst touch my heart)
Canst call its best vibrations forth.
To-day's most trivial act may hold the seed
Of future fruitfulness, or future dearth;
Oh, cherish always every word and deed!
The simplest record of thyself hath worth.
I dip my hand within the wave;
Ah! how impressionless and cold!
I touch it with my lip, and lave
My forehead in the gold.
It is a trivial thought, but sweet,
Perhaps the wave will kiss thy feet.
Yet strive, ye shepherds! strive to find,
And weave the fairest of the kind,
The prime of all the spring;
If haply thus you lovely fair
May, round her temples, deign to wear
The trivial wreaths you bring.