iminutive

I1M3I1N1U1T1I1V4E1

noun

In Yiddish, a second-degree or more intensive diminutive form.

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Meanings

nouniminutive (plural not attested)
  1. no pluralraregrammarIn Yiddish, a second-degree or more intensive diminutive form.

    What is not common, however, in German dialects is the existence of an intensive diminutive (or, as it sometimes is called, an iminutive) having the shape -ele.

    1984, A Faber, RD King, “Yiddish and the settlement of Ashkenazic Jewry”, in Mankind quarterly, volume 24, page 393
    3 more examples

    Faber and King note that Yiddish and Bavarian both have an "intensive diminutive," i.e., a second degree of diminution (iminutive); thus, StY štot 'city,' štetl 'market town', štetɘlɘ 'little market town [endearing].'

    2005, Neil G. Jacobs, Yiddish: A Linguistic Introduction

    The main point in the diminutive and iminutive system is, however, not only that elements of two dialectally different subsystems of German have fused in the German component.

    2008, Max Weinreich, History of the Yiddish Language

    In addition to the diminutive, Yiddish has an 'iminutive', which is used to indicate that something is even smaller (as well as cuter, more lovable, or possibly more inferior) than a diminutive noun.

    2015, Lily Kahn, Colloquial Yiddish

Origin

Back-formation from diminutive.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Yiddish אימינוטיוו
  • אימינוטיוו (iminutiv)second-degree diminutive in Yiddish
Cite this entry
APA

iminutive. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/iminutive

MLA

“iminutive.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/iminutive. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “iminutive,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/iminutive.

Source: iminutive on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.