Nearby Words
adjective
1.
small; little; tiny: a diminutive building for a model-train layout.
2.
Grammar. pertaining to or productive of a form denoting smallness, familiarity, affection, or triviality, as the suffix -let, in droplet from drop.
noun
3.
a small thing or person.
4.
Grammar. a diminutive element or formation.
5.
Heraldry. a charge, as an ordinary, smaller in length or breadth than the usual.
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Diminutive
is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
| a mark (‸) made in written or printed matter to show the place where something is to be inserted. |
Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English < Medieval Latin dīminūtīvus, equivalent to Latin dīminūt(us) lessened (for dēminūtus; see diminution) + -īvus -ive
1350–1400; Middle English < Medieval Latin dīminūtīvus, equivalent to Latin dīminūt(us) lessened (for dēminūtus; see diminution) + -īvus -ive
Related forms
di·min·u·tive·ly, adverb
di·min·u·tive·ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To diminutive
Example Sentences
- But what is noticeable about Homo floresiensis is how small the brain is, even in comparison to the diminutive body.
- Scientific inquiry has focused on the utility of the diminutive arms of tyrannosaurs for nearly a century.
- I'm a hulking man proclaiming my innocence against a diminutive, defenseless-looking woman.
Collins
World English Dictionary
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
diminutive
late 14c., from O.Fr. diminutif (fem. diminutive), from L. diminutivum, from deminuere (see diminish).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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