Category:Diminutive

Di*min"u*tive, a. Etym: [Cf. L. deminutivus, F. diminutif.]

1. Below the average size; very small; little.

2. Expressing diminution; as, a diminutive word.

3. Tending to diminish. [R.] Diminutive of liberty. Shaftesbury.

diminutive Di*min"u*tive, n.

1. Something of very small size or value; an insignificant thing. Such water flies, diminutives of nature. Shak.

2. (Gram.)

Defn: 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. Babyisms and dear diminutives. Tennyson.

Note: The word sometimes denotes a derivative verb which expresses a diminutive or petty form of the action, as scribble.