diminutive
part of speech
adjective (diminutive); noun (a diminutive, diminutives)
meaning for a pupil
1) Very small or short. tree →
2) (grammar, noun) A form of a word or name that means small or shows affection, such as «duckling», «piglet», «booklet», or «Billy» for William. tree →
sense in the lessons
In stories a «diminutive figure» is a small person or creature. In English lessons, diminutive endings include -let, -ling, -ette, -ie/-y: piglet, gosling, kitchenette, doggie. Nicknames like «Kate» for Katherine and «Mick» for Michael are diminutives. Phrases: «diminutive figure», «diminutive form», «diminutive of».
examples
- The diminutive girl was the fastest runner in the school. tree →
- «Piglet» is the diminutive of «pig». tree →
- «Jimmy» is a diminutive of «James». tree →
- A diminutive old man opened the door. tree →
- The suffix -let, as in «booklet», makes a diminutive. tree →
- Despite her diminutive size, the terrier was very brave. tree →
note
Formal or literary for «tiny». Pronounced «di-MIN-yoo-tiv». Not all words ending in -let or -ling are diminutives (e.g. «toilet», «sibling» are not small things).
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «diminutive» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.