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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Diminutive \Di*min"u*tive\, adjective [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.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Diminutive \Di*min"u*tive\, noun
1. Something of very small size or value; an insignificant thing.
Such water flies, diminutives of nature. --Shak.
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.
Note: The word sometimes denotes a derivative verb which expresses a diminutive or petty form of the action, as scribble.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
diminutive
adjective: very small; "diminutive in stature"; "a lilliputian chest of drawers"; "her petite figure"; "tiny feet"; "the flyspeck nation of Bahrain moved toward democracy" [syn: {bantam}, {lilliputian}, {midget}, {petite}, {tiny}, {flyspeck}]
noun: a word that is formed with a suffix (such as -let or -kin) to indicate smallness
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
81 Moby Thesaurus words for "diminutive": Lilliputian, affectionate name, baby, baby-sized, bantam, banty, button, byname, chit, cognomen, cognominal, compact, duodecimo, elfin, epithetic, featherweight, fingerling, formal, handy, honorific, hypocoristic, in name only, infinitesimal, lightweight, lilliputian, little, micro, microscopic, midget, mini, miniature, miniaturized, minikin, minimal, minnow, minny, minuscule, minute, mouse, nickname, nominal, nominative, nubbin, peewee, pet name, petite, pocket, pocket-sized, pony, pygmy, quasi, runt, self-called, self-christened, self-styled, shrimp, slip, small, small fry, small-scale, snip, snippet, so-called, sobriquet, soi-disant, subminiature, teensy-weensy, teeny, teeny-weeny, tiny, tit, titular, toy, twelvemo, undersized, vest-pocket, wart, wee, weeny, wisp, would-be
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