sparse

adj, verb — 4 senses

sparse

adj

UK /spɑːs/ · US /spɑːɹs/

Etymology Borrowed from Latin sparsus.

1

Having widely spaced intervals.

a sparse array, index, or matrix
The Leicester to Grimsby service will become hourly throughout (with some extensions to Cleethorpes as at present), while a new hourly Peterborough to Doncaster service via Spalding, Sleaford and Lincoln will join up two routes with a sparse service at present.2019 October, Tony Miles, Philip Sherratt, “EMR kicks off new era”, in Modern Railways, page 58:

2

Not dense; meager; scanty

3

Mathematics, Sciences Having few nonzero elements

Synonyms: spread out, thin, insufficient, paltry
Derived terms: nonsparse, sparse array, sparsely, sparsen, sparseness, sparse table, sparsification, sparsify, sparsistency, sparsistent, sparsity, ultrasparse, unsparse
Related terms: sparge, thin out

sparse

verb

Etymology Borrowed from Latin sparsus.

1

Obsolete To disperse, to scatter.

They began properly to ſparſe pretye rumours in the North, that no man ſhulde eate whyte breade, no man eate pygge, gooſe, or capon, without he agreed before with the kynge.1536, [Richard Morison], A Remedy for Sedition, London: […] Thomae Bertheleti […], →OCLC, signature F. i.:

Derived terms: sparsedly

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.