Definitions
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In Greek and Latin grammar, same as diminutive.
Wiktionary
- adj. Pertaining to a nickname, usually indicating intimacy with the person.
- n. A nickname, especially one indicating intimacy and formed through a shortening of the original name.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Endearing; diminutive.
Etymologies
- From Ancient Greek ὑποκοριστικός (hupokoristikos), from ὑποκορίζομαι (hupokorizomai, "I speak in the language of children"), from ὑπό (hupo, "below") + κορίζομαι (korizomai, "I act like a girl"), from κόρη (korē, "girl"). (Wiktionary)
Examples
“The initial element _Caed_ -- or _Cead_ (probably adopted from British names in which it represents _catu_, war) appears combined with an Old English terminal element in the name _Caedbaed_ (cp., however, the Irish name Cathbad), and hypocoristic forms of names containing it were borne by the English saints Ceadda (commonly known as St Chad) and his brother Cedd, called Ceadwealla in one MS. of the _Old English”
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 4 "Bulgaria" to "Calgary"
“Simple names appear to have been more frequent in early times, but some are in reality hypocoristic, i. e., abbreviated forms of compound names as Saul (asked), David (beloved) Nathan (he gave), etc., which were probably combined with a Divine name, Yah or 'El. Simple Names”
“It could be a hypocoristic or baby-talk form of hysterical, or it might be from the imitative word hiss; or perhaps it is a variant of another dialect term, jesse, meaning a ` severe scolding, 'which is probably from a Biblical allusion.”
“Linguistic boffins have no problems with a statement like "dim. of BAUGH, from W bychan, hypocoristic form of bach little.”
“Besides phonetic and morphological arbitrariness, there is an unpredictable element in the semantics of hypocoristic forms, at least in Australia.”
“Perhaps what all hypocoristic forms have in common is an atmosphere of familiarity.”
“&c., most of these being "hypocoristic affixes," corresponding in a measure to modern pet-names.”
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 1 "Austria, Lower" to "Bacon"
“Of the simple names a few seem to have been suggested by particular circumstances attending the child's birth: e.g, Jacob (the supplanter), Joseph (possibly an hypocoristic name: "Whom God added”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘hypocoristic’.
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WF - Word Formation Words
Classes of words and types of word formation
sniglet, protologism, portmanteau word, blend, telescope-word, frankenword, double-entendre, compound, derivative, palindrome, spoonerism, malapropism and 152 more...
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These words are about words.
words on words. yyep.
codex, folio, lexicon, tome, word stock, wordbook, wordlist, palaver, word index, argot, parlance, doublespeak and 68 more...
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inkhorn's Words
inkhorn, aplomb, apotheosis, asinine, avatar, bombastic, boorish, bromide, bucolic, cagey, canvass, digress and 991 more...
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ktrey's wordlist
Words that I like.
Many may be lexicographically impotent due to a lack of citations and definition. Hopefully I'll be able to rectify this eventually.velleity, dispositive, bloviate, bibulous, fungible, concupiscence, avuncular, carnaptious, thrawn, hypocoristic, diegesis, lagniappe and 928 more...
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bertilak's Words
antidisestablishm..., feldercarb, wainscoting, eleemosynary, oxymoron, fuliginous, libration, lammergeier, saxifrage, ichor, lambent, smaragdine and 414 more...
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sionnach's Words
contumely, fomite, holmgang, poltroon, eleemosynary, obsidian, nugatory, grindcore, felch, recrudescent, pyx, parenteral and 3271 more...
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Trump that synonym!
Better alternatives for common words.
ex cathedra, screed, de rigueur, palpable, wheedle, piebald, incongruity, cassandra, xantippe, ebullient, exuberant, fainéant and 178 more...
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Wordie/Wordnik Curio Cabinet
Oddments culled from my "main" lists that belong in a display cabinet of their own, plus sundry other curiosities. :-)
zeugma, ziggurat, xiphoid, xeric, whizgigging, whangdoodle, viviparous, vivific, vinolent, verjuice, vellicate, velleity and 1193 more...
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aozuas's Words
sense data, hyperreality, brouhaha, ibid, apophenia, fnord, lackadaisical, schadenfreude, bildungsroman, ready-made, readymade, tergiversar and 654 more...
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rememberers
prolix, ageusia, animadversion, anodyne, antic, arabesque, beadle, brachymetropia, colophon, desquamation, diaphoresis, diegesis and 3250 more...
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Delirium's Words
milquetoast, folderol, discombobulate, persnickety, piffle, curmudgeon, suckitude, smithereens, cantankerous, shenanigans, murder, morningstar and 59 more...
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linguinteresting
linguisticly interesting
lexeme, periphrastic, snowclone, cornroll, irregardless, wholescale, slanguage, infixation, expletive, nonce, prosodic, reduplication and 26 more...
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Bux.
acerb, antiphon, aperçu, deferential, inamorata, peroration, umbrage, slattern, felonious, transmogrify, hierophant, cloacal and 24 more...
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ynaffit's Words
sedulous, vituperative, pullulating, erstwhile, imbroglio, asperity, cynosure, adumbrate, prosopopoeia, peerless, calumny, ague and 272 more...
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Never heard of it!
Words I'd never heard of before.
plash, enjoin, demiurge, duopsony, wittol, deterge, badious, freekeh, etiolate, shoutcase, hypocoristic, grotesquerie and 7 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for hypocoristic.
slumry Not at all! I changed to hypocorism, but forgot to eliminate all traces of my presence here. Somehow pet name loses something in this deal. Jul 25, 2007
reesetee Not a very hypocoristic word, is it? ;-) Jul 25, 2007