noun

1. a small quantity or amount
2. dimensions of building material
3. a small beam or timber, esp. one of small cross section, as a two-by-four
4. a small, upright timber, as in the frame of a structure

Etymology: altered (as if < scant + -ling) < ME scantilone, a carpenter's gauge, aphetic < NormFr escantillon, for OFr eschandillon, a measure < Prov escandil, a measure of volume < VL *scandaculum, ladder, plumb < scandere: see descend