belittle

Pronunciation

• IPA: /bɪˈlɪt.əl/^[1]

Etymology

It was formed in American English from be- and little,^[2][3][4][5] and is first recorded in the writings of Thomas Jefferson, who probably coined it.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

To make small or reduce in size (1781 in Barnhart and Etymonline; 1782 in the OED).^[3][4][6] Jefferson used it in Notes on the State of Virginia against Buffon's claim that nature tended to make American species smaller than European ones.^[4]

Semantic evolution

British critics condemned the word as a Yankee barbarism.^[4] The figurative sense, to disparage or decry the importance of, is recorded from 1797 and is now almost the only one;^[4][7][6] the sense to make appear small appeared in 1850.^[6]

Timeline

• 1781 – coined by Jefferson, to make small.^[3][4]
• 1797 – to depreciate or disparage.^[4][7][6]
• 1850 – to cause to appear small; to dwarf.^[6]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To speak of as small or unimportant; to disparage.
2. To make something or someone seem little or less by comparison.

Word family

• belittlement
• belittler

Related words

• little
• diminish
• disparage

Usage notes

Random House lists minimize, decry, deprecate, deride, scorn and dismiss as synonyms.^[5]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster