Trivial

 WORD OF THE DAY

trivial / adjective / TRIV-ee-ul

Definition
1a: of little worth or importance
1b: relating to or being the mathematically simplest case
1c: characterized by having all variables equal to zero
2: commonplace, ordinary

Examples
“Urged on by co-founders Jim VandeHei and John Harris to ‘win the morning,’ Politico’s reporters and editors covered Washington high and low, devoting space in their influential email newsletters to presidential campaigns and more trivial details like birthdays of prominent local figures.”
— Benjamin Mullin and Katie Robertson, The New York Times, 3 May 2022

His later memory, untutored and unsupported by anything so trivial as evidence or documents, now flourished and ran wild.
— Muriel Spark, Curriculum Vitae, (1992) 1993

Did You Know?
When English speakers adopted the word trivial from Latin trivialis in the 16th century, they used it to mean just what its Latin ancestor meant: "found everywhere, commonplace."
But the source of trivialis is about something more specific: trivium, from tri- (three) and via (way), means "crossroads; place where three roads meet."
Since a crossroads is a very public place where all kinds of people might show up, trivialis came to mean "commonplace" or "vulgar." Today, the English word has changed slightly in meaning and instead usually describes something barely worth mentioning.
The link between the two presumably has to do with the commonplace sorts of things a person is likely to encounter at a busy crossroads.
Mathematicians use the word to refer to the mathematically simplest case, but the rest of us tend to use it just to mean "unimportant."
"Small talk" at a party, for example, is usually trivial conversation. To trivialize something is to treat it as if it doesn't matter, as if it is just another triviality.
Today, the English word typically describes something barely worth mentioning. Such judgments are, of course, subjective; feel free to mention this bit of trivia to anyone and everyone who crosses your path.
Extending that meaning to the related noun might sound unnecessarily harsh for a word we associate with pub quizzes, but the original notion behind trivia was that whatever qualified wasn't something you should worry about not knowing.
Before it became the name of a board game, trivial pursuit referred to something in which one takes an interest but that is ultimately inconsequential.