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Webster 1913 Edition

Diminutive

Di-min′u-tive

,
Adj.
[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.

Di-min′u-tive

,
Noun.
1.
Something of very small size or value; an insignificant thing.
Such water flies,
diminutives
of nature.
Shakespeare
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
.
Babyisms and dear
diminutives
.
Tennyson.
☞ The word sometimes denotes a derivative verb which expresses a diminutive or petty form of the action, as scribble.

Webster 1828 Edition

Diminutive

DIMINUTIVE

,
Adj.
Small; little; narrow; contracted; as a diminutive race of men or other animals; a diminutive thought.

DIMINUTIVE

,
Noun.
In grammar, a word formed from another word, usually an appellative or generic term, to express a little thing of the kind; as, in Latin, lapillus, a little stone, from lapis; cellula, a little cell, from cella, a cell; in French, maisonnette, a little house, from maison, a house; in English, manikin, a little man, from man.

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