different between dwarfish vs diminutive

English

Etymology

dwarf +? -ish

Adjective

dwarfish (comparative more dwarfish, superlative most dwarfish)

1. Like a dwarf; being especially small or stunted.
   • c. 1605, William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act V, Scene 2, [1]

     […] now does he feel his title / Hang loose about him, like a giant's robe / Upon a dwarfish thief.

   • 1757, Edmund Burke, A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful, Section XXIV, in The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, London: John C. Nimmo, 1887, Volume I, p. 242, [2]

     Besides the extraordinary great in every species, the opposite to this, the dwarfish and diminutive, ought to be considered. Littleness, merely as such, has nothing contrary to the idea of beauty.

   • 1843, Edgar Allan Poe, "The Gold-Bug" [3]

     The vegetation, as might be supposed, is scant, or at least dwarfish.
2. Of, pertaining to, or made by or for dwarves.

   Dwarfish axes are some of the finest weapons available.

Translations

English

Alternative forms

• (noun, grammar): dim. (abbreviation)

Etymology

From Middle French diminutif (1398), from Latin diminutivum, from d?minu? (“diminish”).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /d??m?n.j?.t?v/, /d??m?n.j?.t?v/

Adjective

diminutive (comparative more diminutive, superlative most diminutive)

1. Very small.

   Synonyms: lilliputian, tiny

   Antonyms: huge, gigantic
2. (obsolete) Serving to diminish.
   • 1711, Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times, 1714 edition republished by Gregg International Publishers, 1968, Volume 3, Miscellany 3, Chapter 2, p. 175,^[2]

     They cou’d, perhaps, even embrace POVERTY contentedly, rather than submit to any thing diminutive either of their inward Freedom or national Liberty.

3. (grammar) Of or pertaining to, or creating a word form expressing smallness, youth, unimportance, or endearment.

   Antonym: augmentative

Translations

Noun

diminutive (plural diminutives)

1. (grammar) A word form expressing smallness, youth, unimportance, or endearment.

   Synonyms: nomen deminutivum, pet form

   Antonym: augmentative

Translations

Related terms

• diminish
• diminution
• diminutization
• diminutize
• dimwit

Further reading

• diminutive on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Danish

Adjective

diminutive

1. definite of diminutiv
2. plural of diminutiv

French

Adjective

diminutive

1. feminine singular of diminutif

German

Adjective

diminutive

1. inflection of diminutiv:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Italian

Adjective

diminutive

1. feminine plural of diminutivo

Norwegian Bokmål

Adjective

diminutive

1. definite singular/plural of diminutiv

Norwegian Nynorsk

Adjective

diminutive

1. definite singular/plural of diminutiv