The tongue found diminutives for her, the heart kept her in a perpetual youth.

Mrs. Rushmore had severely eschewed diminutives.

Moreover, she gradually became so indescribably quaint and bewitching and comical and saucy that every one sought diminutives for her; nicknames, fond names, little names, and all sorts of words that tried to describe her charm (and couldn't), so there was Poppet and Smiles and Minx and Rogue and Midget and Ladybird and finally Nan and Nannie by degrees, to soberer Nancy.

19. &c. I will briefly speak of them, as first of alteratives, which Galen, in his third book of diseased parts, prefers before diminutives, and Trallianus brags, that he hath done more cures on melancholy men by moistening, than by purging of them.

Diet, diminutives, alteratives, cordials, correctors as before, intermixed as occasion serves, "all their study must be to make a melancholy man fat, and then the cure is ended."

Diminutives and purges may be taken as before, of hiera, manna, cassia, which Montanus consil.

" All the bombast epithets, pathetical adjuncts, incomparably fair, curiously neat, divine, sweet, dainty, delicious, &c., pretty diminutives, corculum, suaviolum, &c. pleasant names may be invented, bird, mouse, lamb, puss, pigeon, pigsney, kid, honey, love, dove, chicken, &c. he puts on her.

How musically endearing Italian diminutives fall upon the ear employed in this office!

As an abbreviation of Durante, it would correspond in familiarity with the Ben of Ben Jonsona diminutive that would assuredly not have been used by grave people on occasions like those mentioned, though a wit of the day gave the masons a shilling to carve "O rare Ben Jonson!"

And Esther would proceed to read, picking her way among the endearments and the diminutives.

Kisses are but the diminutives of the great word "love;" they are but the small change of passion, meteorites, star-dust of the great and terrible planet.

Very frequently I used to start up from my desk, thinking that I was in some diminutive room ashore; and my mistake was the more natural, as we had three horses, a dog, several pigs, hens, geese, and a canary bird on board, all respectively neighing, barking, grunting, cackling, and singing, as if they were in a farm-yard.

Names and designations of males, nations, the months, rivers, and winds, are almost invariably masculine; those of females, countries, islands, cities, trees, and plants, are usually feminine; of the neuter gender are most names of fruits and diminutives, and always the names of the letters, infinitives, clauses, indeclinable words, and words used as the symbol of a sound.

With, of course, the diminutives Neddy, Teddy, and Eddy." "I think I should prefer Ned." "I prefer Ned myself.

" His little daughter, Tullia, or Tulliola, which was her pet name (the Roman diminutives being formed somewhat more elegantly than ours, by adding a syllable instead of cutting short), was the delight of his heart in his earlier letters to Atticus he is constantly making some affectionate mention of hersending her love, or some playful message which his friend would understand.

28."On the principle here laid down, we may account for a peculiar use of the article with the adjective few, and some other diminutives.

All these denote little things, and are called diminutives.

He even sternly struck out the diminutives.

She remembered that the language of love is in two sexesfor the woman superlatives, for the man diminutives.

Then after defending his view of the poem, and commenting upon the Latin diminutives, he adds, 'perhaps I should be much better pleased if I were told you called me "your little friend," than if you complimented me with the title of "a great genius," or "an eminent hand," as Jacob [Tonson] does all his authors.

[Footnote A: One of the many diminutives of Alexandrina.]

In neglecting Tibullus and Propertius, Quintilian and the Plinies, Statius, Martial, even Terence and Plautus whose jargon full of neologisms, compound words and diminutives, could please him, but whose low comedy and gross humor he loathed, Des Esseintes only began to be interested in the Latin language with Lucan.

Like the French, they are enchanted, they are desolate, because you have got or have not got a shoestring or a wafer you happen to wantnot perceiving that superlatives are diminutives and weaken....

A form of expression which has been a great favourite in Scotland in my recollection has much gone out of practiceI mean the frequent use of diminutives, generally adopted either as terms of endearment or of contempt.

Diminutives, terms of endearment.