smattering

Etymology 1

From smatter + -ing.

noun

1. A superficial or shallow knowledge of a subject.
   She knows a smattering of Greek, but not enough to carry on a conversation.
   1529, Thomas More, The Supplycacyon of Soulys [The Supplication of Souls], London: W. Rastell, Book 2, […] he had a lytell smatterynge in the lawe: […]
   If any object against a Learned Education, that it will make Women vain and assuming, and instead of correcting, encrease their Pride: I grant, that a smattering in Learning may; for it has this effect on the Men, none so Dogmatical, and so forward to shew their Parts as your little Pretenders to Science. 1694, Mary Astell, A Serious Proposal to the Ladies, for the Advancement of their True and Greatest Interest, London: R. Wilkin, page 153
   It’s easy enough to be a beak when you’re young and athletic, and can offer the latest University smattering. The difficulty is to keep your place when you get old and stiff, and younger smatterers are pushing up behind you. 1907, E.M. Forster, The Longest Journey, Part II, XX [Uniform ed., p. 201]
   He had only a mail-order smattering of music, painting; he had never read Dante or Goethe nor anything of Shakespeare except the plays on which he had been spoon-fed at Amherst […] 1951, Sinclair Lewis, chapter 2, in World So Wide
2. A small number or amount of something.
   There’s only a smattering of people who oppose the first amendment.
   More sophisticated dishes, like trout, with a heavy smattering of finely minced rosemary between the filets, are simple and au naturel: the trout comes with a lemon wedge, a bed of mixed greens, and the head. 12 April 2004, Dana Goodyear, “Westville”, in The New Yorker
   By the standards of the 70s, when the main climbing routes were littered with discarded tents and food packets, Everest is a lot cleaner, with just a smattering of plastic bottles and sweet wrappers on the rocky plateau that is base camp. 24 October 2011, Suzanne Goldenberg, “The mission to clean up Mount Everest”, in The Guardian
   He was introduced to a smattering of boos from the crowd, a sign of the presence of fans from Notre Dame and other Big Ten schools. 1 November 2016, Teddy Greenstein, “Jim Harbaugh rates Wrigley Field atmosphere 'A+++'”, in Chicago Tribune

Etymology 2

From Middle English smateringe, smattrynge, equivalent to smatter + -ing.

verb

1. present participle and gerund of smatter