diminutive
/dɪˈmɪn.jə.tɪv/
diminutive means very small.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, diminutive ranks #5,837 of 14,308 for Most Malleable Words.
diminutive is pronounced /dɪˈmɪn.jə.tɪv/.
Why “diminutive” is a great word
A word or form expressing smallness, youth, unimportance, or endearment, often through a specialized suffix. From Middle English diminutif, from Old French diminutif, from Latin dīminutīvus ("tending to diminish"), from dīminūtus, the past participle of dīminuere ("to lessen, diminish"), first attested in 1398. Unlike "miniature," which suggests a perfect, scaled-down replica, or "tiny," a blunt declaration of size, "diminutive" is a term of relation and inflection, a linguistic caress. It is the "-kin" in lambkin, the "-let" in droplet, the "-ette" in kitchenette—each suffix a gentle press upon the word, shrinking it into something to be cupped in the palm. This is the quiet insistence that smallness is not an absence but a quality unto itself, where the slightest form holds a profound gravity.
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English diminutif, derived from Old French diminutif, derived from Latin dīminutīv|us, ~a, ~um (adjective), from dīminūt|us, ~a, ~um (participle), perfect passive participle of dīmin|uō, ~uere, ~uī, ~ūtum (verb). First attested in 1398.
adj
- Very small.“Mrs. Washington ("Oh, la, call me Martha, Boys") is a diminutive woman with a cheerful rather than happy air, who seems to bustle even when standing still..”
- Serving to diminish.“1711, Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times, 1714 edition republished by Gregg International Publishers, 1968, Volume 3, Miscellany 3, Chapter 2, p. 175,
They cou’d, perhaps, even embrace POVERTY contentedly, rather than submit to any thing diminutive either of their inward Freedom or national Liberty.”
- Of or pertaining to, or creating a word form expressing smallness, youth, unimportance, or endearment.
noun
- A word form expressing smallness, youth, unimportance, or endearment.“Booklet, the diminutive of book, means ‘small book’.”
- The smallest, thinnest version of a traditional heraldic ordinary ("geometric shape on a shield"), often used to represent multiple instances of a charge or to modify a main, central, and larger charge; not itself modifiable.
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