Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Diminutive \Di*min"u*tive\, a. [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.

Diminutive \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.) 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 : WordNet®

diminutive
     adj : very small; "diminutive in stature"; "a lilliputian chest of
           drawers"; "her petite figure"; "tiny feet"; "the
           flyspeck nation of Bahrain moved toward democracy"
           [syn: {bantam}, {lilliputian}, {midget}, {petite}, {tiny},
            {flyspeck}]
     n : a word that is formed with a suffix (such as -let or -kin)
         to indicate smallness