diminutive
noun
- word modified to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning
adjective
- small
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /dɪˈmɪn.jə.tɪv/ / /dəˈmən.jə.təv/ / /dɪˈmɪn.ju.ə.tɪv/
adj
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.
- 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..”
“Roman Sharonov rose unchallenged to head a corner wide, while diminutive winger Gokdeniz Karadeniz ghosted in with a diving header from the edge of the six-yard box that was acrobatically kept out by Gomes.”
- 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
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.
- A word form expressing smallness, youth, unimportance, or endearment.
“Booklet, the diminutive of book, means ‘small book’.”
“But I was frightfully fond of the universe and wanted to address it by a diminutive. I often did so; and it never seemed to mind.”
- 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.