escaso
/esˈkaso/ · B2 · adj
scarce, limited, scant, meager, meagre, skimpy, rare, insufficient, slight, slim
🌾 escaso sounds like 'a scasso' = a-scarce-o, so scarce
Spanish escaso and English scarce share a Latin root, excarpsus, meaning plucked out or picked out. Things picked out leave fewer behind. Match the opening es-ca with sc-ar to link escaso to scarce.