Diminutive
Diminutive , adjective
[Compare Latin deminutivus, French diminutif.]
1.
Below the average size; very small; little.
2.
Expressing diminution; as, a diminutive word.
3.
Tending to diminish. [Rare]
Diminutive of liberty.
Diminutive , noun
1.
Something of very small size or value; an insignificant thing.
Such water flies, diminutives of nature.
2.
(Grammar) 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.
The word sometimes denotes a derivative verb which expresses a diminutive or petty form of the action, as scribble.