Meaning

verb work hastily or carelessly; deal with inadequately and superficially

verb limit in quality or quantity

verb supply sparingly and with restricted quantities

originAdjective and determiner from Middle English scant, from Old Norse skamt, neuter of skammr (“short”), from Proto-Germanic *skammaz (“short”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱem- (“mutilated, hornless”). Verb from Middle English scanten, from the adjective. Noun and adverb from Middle English scant, from the adjective.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0