BAGATELLE


Meaning of BAGATELLE in English

/ ˌbægəˈtel; NAmE / noun

1.

[ U ] a game played on a board with small balls that you try to hit into holes

2.

[ C , usually sing. ] ( literary ) a small and unimportant thing or amount :

It cost a mere bagatelle.

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WORD ORIGIN

mid 17th cent. (in sense 2): from French , from Italian bagatella , perhaps from baga baggage or from a diminutive of Latin baca berry. Sense 1 dates from the early 19th cent.

Oxford Advanced Learner's English Dictionary.      Оксфордский английский словарь для изучающик язык на продвинутом уровне.