1650s, "meager, barely sufficient for use;" 1701, "too small, limited in scope, lacking amplitude or extent," from scant (adj.) + -y (2). Related: Scantiness "insufficiency" (1560s). Scanties (n.) "underwear" (especially for women) is attested from 1928.
To speken of the horrible disordinat scantnesse of clothyng as ben thise kutted sloppes or hanselyns, that thurgh hire shortnesse ne couere nat the shameful membres of man to wikked entente. [Chaucer, "Parson's Tale"]
1784; see Scandinavia + -ian. As a noun, from 1766 of the languages, 1830 of the people; by 1959 in reference to styles of furniture and decor. In U.S. colloquial use sometimes Scandihoovian, Scandiwegan, etc. (OED dates both of those to 1929, used in sea slang, "generally in mild contempt"). Alternative adjective Scandian (1660s) is from Latin Scandia.
rare metallic element discovered by spectroscope, 1879, from Modern Latin Scandia (see Scandinavia), used by L.F. Nilson of Uppsala as the name of earth he had isolated, which later was recognized as one of the missing elements predicted by Mendeleev and given the chemical ending -ium. Related: Scandic.
1765, from Late Latin Scandinavia (Pliny), Skandinovia (Pomponius Mela), name of a large and fruitful island vaguely located in northern Europe, a mistake (with unetymological -n-) for Scadinavia, which is from a Germanic source (compare Old English Scedenig, Old Norse Skaney "south end of Sweden"), from Proto-Germanic *skadinaujo "Scadia island." The first element is of uncertain origin; the second element is from *aujo "thing on the water" (from PIE root *akwā- "water;" see aqua-). It might have been an island when the word was formed; the coastlines and drainage of the Baltic Sea changed dramatically after the melting of the ice caps.
mid-14c., "short or insufficient in quantity, rather less than is wanted for the purpose," from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse skamt, neuter of skammr "short, brief," from Proto-Germanic *skamma- (source also of Old English scamm "short," Old High German skemmen "to shorten"), perhaps ultimately "hornless" (from PIE *kem- (1) "hornless;" see hind (n.)).
Also in Middle English as a noun, "dearth, scant supply, scarcity," from Old Norse.
late 15c., scandalouse, "disgraceful, shameful, causing scandal or offense," from Old French (Modern French scandaleux), from Medieval Latin scandalosus "scandalous," from Church Latin scandalum (see scandal). Of words or writing, "defaming, libelous," from c. 1600. Related: Scandalously; scandalousness.
