Diminutive \Di*min"u*tive\, a. [Cf. L. deminutivus, F.
diminutif.]
1. Below the average size; very small; little.
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2. Expressing diminution; as, a diminutive word.
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3. Tending to diminish. [R.]
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Diminutive of liberty. --Shaftesbury.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Diminutive \Di*min"u*tive\, n.
1. Something of very small size or value; an insignificant
thing.
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Such water flies, diminutives of nature. --Shak.
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2. (Gram.) A derivative from a noun, denoting a small or a
young object of the same kind with that denoted by the
primitive; as, gosling, eaglet, lambkin.
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Babyisms and dear diminutives. --Tennyson.
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Note: The word sometimes denotes a derivative verb which
expresses a diminutive or petty form of the action, as
scribble.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
diminutive
adj : very small; "diminutive in stature"; "a lilliputian chest of
drawers"; "her petite figure"; "tiny feet"; "the
flyspeck nation of Bahrain moved toward democracy"
[syn: bantam, lilliputian, midget, petite, tiny,
flyspeck]
n : a word that is formed with a suffix (such as -let or -kin)
to indicate smallness
WordNet (r) 2.0
81 Moby Thesaurus words for "diminutive":
Lilliputian, affectionate name, baby, baby-sized, bantam, banty,
button, byname, chit, cognomen, cognominal, compact, duodecimo,
elfin, epithetic, featherweight, fingerling, formal, handy,
honorific, hypocoristic, in name only, infinitesimal, lightweight,
lilliputian, little, micro, microscopic, midget, mini, miniature,
miniaturized, minikin, minimal, minnow, minny, minuscule, minute,
mouse, nickname, nominal, nominative, nubbin, peewee, pet name,
petite, pocket, pocket-sized, pony, pygmy, quasi, runt,
self-called, self-christened, self-styled, shrimp, slip, small,
small fry, small-scale, snip, snippet, so-called, sobriquet,
soi-disant, subminiature, teensy-weensy, teeny, teeny-weeny, tiny,
tit, titular, toy, twelvemo, undersized, vest-pocket, wart, wee,
weeny, wisp, would-be
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
bantam, flyspeck, lilliputian, midget, petite, tiny
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