belittle English · revision 1226

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bɪˈlɪt.əl/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It was formed in American English from [[be-]] and [[little]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) and is first recorded in the writings of Thomas Jefferson, who probably coined it.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To make small or reduce in size (1781 in Barnhart and Etymonline; 1782 in the OED).^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) 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.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ British critics condemned the word as a Yankee barbarism.^(Etymonline) The figurative sense, to disparage or decry the importance of, is recorded from 1797 and is now almost the only one;^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989) the sense to make appear small appeared in 1850.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1781 – coined by Jefferson, to make small.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1797 – to depreciate or disparage.^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1850 – to cause to appear small; to dwarf.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To speak of as small or unimportant; to [[disparage]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To make something or someone seem little or less by comparison.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[belittlement]]

+ * [[belittler]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[little]]

+ * [[diminish]]

+ * [[disparage]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Random House lists ''minimize'', ''decry'', ''deprecate'', ''deride'', ''scorn'' and ''dismiss'' as synonyms.^(RHWU)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}