Coffee has initially been a food – chewed, not sipped. Early African tribes consume coffee by grinding the berries together, adding some animal fat, and rolling the treats into tiny edible energy balls.
DIMINUTIVE
bantam, diminutive, lilliputian, midget, petite, tiny, flyspeck
(adjective) very small; “diminutive in stature”; “a lilliputian chest of drawers”; “her petite figure”; “tiny feet”; “the flyspeck nation of Bahrain moved toward democracy”
diminutive
(noun) a word that is formed with a suffix (such as -let or -kin) to indicate smallness
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Adjective
diminutive (comparative more diminutive, superlative most diminutive)
Very small.
Synonyms: lilliputian, tiny
Antonyms: huge, gigantic
(obsolete) Serving to diminish.
(grammar) Of or pertaining to, or creating a word form expressing smallness, youth, unimportance, or endearment.
Antonym: augmentative
Noun
diminutive (plural diminutives)
(grammar) A word form expressing smallness, youth, unimportance, or endearment.
Synonyms: nomen deminutivum, pet form
Antonym: augmentative
Source: Wiktionary
Di*min"u*tive, a. Etym: [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.
Di*min"u*tive, n.
1. Something of very small size or value; an insignificant thing. Such water flies, diminutives of nature. Shak.
2. (Gram.)
Definition: 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.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
10 May 2025
BEATIFY
(verb) declare (a dead person) to be blessed; the first step of achieving sainthood; “On Sunday, the martyr will be beatified by the Vatican”
Coffee Trivia
