Dictionary

halfling en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈhæflɪŋ/ (General-American)
• (US) audio
• /ˈhɑːflɪŋ/ trap–bath split

Etymology

From half + -ling. Sense 3 ("half-grown young person") is attested to 1794. It was then used by J.R.R. Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings (1954) as an alternative reference to members of his hobbit race. Hobbits were used in the original 1974 releases of the role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons, but in later editions they were changed to "halflings" for legal reasons, as being a pre-existing word rather than one invented by Tolkien.

Meanings

1. A fictional small humanoid creature featuring in fantasy fiction; a hobbit.
2. A fictional humanoid born of a human parent and a parent of another race in fantasy fiction.
3. A half-grown person, between a child and an adult.
   • Often it had been my fate to accompany the pick of the knight errantry of Whinnyliggate on such quests—for, though Nance was about my own age, she had become a reigning belle while I was but a halfling boy. 1897, Lady's Realm: An Illustrated Monthly Magazine, volume 1, page 52:

Forms

Translations (31)

de Halbling (a hobbit) · sv dvärg (a hobbit) · cmn 半身人 (a hobbit) · pt metadílio (a hobbit) · sv halvmänniska (a hobbit) · it mezz'uomo (a hobbit) · fr halfelin (a hobbit) · sh полушан (a hobbit) · ja ハーフリング (a hobbit) · sv halvlängdsman (a hobbit) · ru ха́флинг (a hobbit) · mr हाफलिंग (a hobbit) · pt pequenina (a hobbit) · pl niziołki (a hobbit) · sv bastard (a hobbit) · sv halvmänning (a hobbit) · pt metadília (a hobbit) · ca mitjà (a hobbit) · cs půlčík (a hobbit) · sv krympling (a hobbit) · sv halvkarl (a hobbit) · sv halvman (a hobbit) · es mediano (a hobbit) · ru полуро́слик (a hobbit) · pt pequenino (a hobbit) · fi hoppeli (a hobbit) · fi hobitti (a hobbit) · it halfling (a hobbit) · fr semi-homme (a hobbit) · pl niziołek (a hobbit) · ko 하플링 (a hobbit)

wikipedia: Dungeons and Dragons · wikipedia: The Lord of the Rings · wikipedia: J.R.R. Tolkien