DIMINUTIVE • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Diminutive

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/dɪmˈɪnjətɪv/ Listen

adjective

Diminutive adj.

Below the average size; very small; little.

Expressing diminution; as, a diminutive word.

Tending to diminish. (R.) "Diminutive of liberty."

noun

Diminutive n.

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

(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. "Babyisms and dear diminutives." Note: The word sometimes denotes a derivative verb which expresses a diminutive or petty form of the action, as scribble.

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Etymology of 'Diminutive'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Diminutive" Quotes from Famous Books

... habiliment. His countenance was handsome and manly, with a certain broad burly look, thoroughly English in its character, which won him much admiration from his subjects; and though it might be objected that the eyes were too small, and the mouth somewhat too diminutive, it could not be denied that the general expression of the face was kingly in the extreme. A prince of a more "royal presence" than Henry the Eighth was never seen, and though he had many and grave faults, want of dignity ...

— Windsor Castle • William Harrison Ainsworth

... fireplace, which her father had reserved for her, and while he and I were talking, she sat with her head leaning a little sideways on the back of the chair. I could just discern that her feet, which rested on the stool, were very diminutive, like ...

— The Autobiography of Mark Rutherford • Mark Rutherford

... at him, a warm glow leaping to her face. This was the first time he had addressed her by the customary diminutive of friendship since they had both been members of the Indian ...

— The Silent Places • Stewart Edward White

... important characteristics of the primordial type. There appears to be no limit to the varieties of dogs, yet one can perceive by a glance that there is no specific difference between the huge Mont St. Bernard dog and the diminutive poodle, or between the sparse greyhound and the burly mastiff. All the varieties of our domestic fowl have been traced to a common origin—the wild Indian fowl (Gallus bankiva). Even Darwin admits that all the existing kinds of horses ...

— The Stock-Feeder's Manual - the chemistry of food in relation to the breeding and - feeding of live stock • Charles Alexander Cameron

... And with that the dwarf pulled his cap hard over his brows, and took two turns, of three feet long, up and down the room, lifting his legs up very high, and setting them down very hard. This pause gave time for Gluck to collect his thoughts a little, and, seeing no great reason to view his diminutive visitor with dread, and feeling his curiosity overcome his amazement, he ventured on ...

— Junior Classics, V6 • Various

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