Table of Contents
The word for today is…
trivial (adj) – 1. Of little significance or value.
2. Concerned with or involving unimportant matters; superficial.
3. (Mathematics) (a) Of, relating to, or being the solution of an equation in which every variable is equal to zero.
(b) Of, relating to, or being the simplest possible case; self-evident.
Source : The Free Dictionary
Etymology : Trivial comes from a Latin word meaning “crossroads”—that is, where three roads come together. Since a crossroads is a very public place where all kinds of people might show up, trivialis came to mean “commonplace” or “vulgar.” Today, the English word has changed slightly in meaning and instead usually describes something barely worth mentioning. Extending that meaning to the related noun might sound unnecessarily harsh for a word we associate with pub quizzes, but the original notion behind trivia was that whatever qualified wasn’t something you should worry about not knowing. Before it became the name of a board game, trivial pursuit referred to something in which one takes an interest but that is ultimately inconsequential.
