hypocoristic
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of hypocoristic
First recorded in 1600–10; from Greek hypokoristikós “diminutive,” equivalent to hypokor(ízesthai) “to play the child, call by endearing names” ( hypo- “under” + kor- “child”; compare kórē “girl,” kóros “boy”) + -istikos adjective suffix; see hypo-, -istic
Example Sentences
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Hence we get names for the two kinds of diminutives; viz., the term meiotic for the true diminutives, and the term hypocoristic for the diminutives of endearment.
From A Handbook of the English Language by R. G. (Robert Gordon) Latham
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
