smidgen
Chiefly in the form a smidgen of: a very small amount or quantity; a bit, a trace.
informal
Move it a smidgen to the right.
Chiefly in the form a smidgen of a: a very small or insignificant person or thing; also, an instance of such a person or thing.
informal
In fifty years, did you ever have a vacation, you little, silly, half-pint, smidgin of a wife?
Where it comes from
Origin uncertain; possibly from smitch (“(originally Scotland, chiefly US) very small amount or quantity”) + possibly -in (a variant of -ing (suffix forming nouns denoting things considered collectively)). Smitch is possibly: * derived from smitch (“smoke from a burning or smouldering thing; spot of dirt; blemish; dirt, grime”), a variant of smeech (“(southwest England) (dense or pungent) smoke; airborne dust”), from Middle English smeche, smek, smiche (“smoke from a burning or smouldering thing; cloud of smoke; fumes, vapour; smell”), from Old English smēc, smīc (“smoke; steam; vapour”), from Proto-West Germanic *smauki (“smoke”), related to Proto-Germanic *smeukaną (“to fume, smoke”), from Proto-Indo-European *smewgʰ- (“smoke”); or * borrowed from Scots smitch (“smudge, stain; blemish; very small amount, speck, trace;
Adapted from the Wiktionary entry smidgen (CC BY-SA 4.0).