oligo-comb. form

Etymology: < post-classical Latin and scientific Latin oligo- (in e.g. oligopolium oligopoly n.) and its etymon ancient Greek ὀλιγο-, combining form of ὀλίγος small, little, few (of uncertain origin). Compare French oligo- (formations in which are found from the early 19th cent.), German oligo- (formations in which are found from at least the early 19th cent.).Ancient Greek ὀλιγο- is frequent in compound nouns and adjectives with the sense ‘having few, having little’, e.g.: ὀλιγόκαρπος with little fruit, oligocarpous, ὀλιγόϕυλλος having few leaves, oligophyllous. Earliest recorded in English in loans from Greek, as oligarch n., oligophorous adj. (early 17th cent.) and oligotrophy n. (early 18th cent.), but formations remain rare until the mid 19th cent. The earliest independent English formation is apparently oligosyllabic adj. Chiefly combined with second elements of ancient Greek origin. Many of the 19th-cent. compounds belong to the international vocabulary of the scientific world, and are borrowed from, or influenced by, scientific Latin (compare oligochaete adj. and n.), or a modern vernacular, e.g. German (compare oligoclase n., Oligocene n. and adj.).