Dictionary

hobbit en · NOUN · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• [-ɪʔ]
• /ˈhɒbɪt/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Coined in its current sense by J. R. R. Tolkien in the 1930s, featured in the novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Jocularly etymologized by him as from a hypothetical Old English *holbytla (literally “hole-builder”), from hol (“hole”) + bytlan (“to build”) + -a (“-er”). Tolkien was possibly influenced by similar terms for house-sprites (probably from Hob, a hypocoristic form of Robert), or an isolated mention of hobbits (with hobgoblins following immediately afterwards) in a list of sprites and bogies from the 19th-century Denham Tracts.

Meanings

1. A member of a fictional race of small humanoids with shaggy hair and hairy feet.
   • It was his thirty-third birthday and already he had […] a little round tummy like a hobbit 2008, Tom Holt, Falling Sideways, Orbit books,, →ISBN, page 3:
2. (humorous) A member of a fictional race of small humanoids with shaggy hair and hairy feet. ▸ A person of short stature.
3. An extinct species of hominin, Homo floresiensis, with a short body and relatively small brain, fossils of which have been recovered from the Indonesian island of Flores.
   • Although partial remains of other Hobbits have surfaced at the same site, they say it could have been an isolated colony of inbred people who shared the same genetic abnormalities. 2007 September 20, Christopher Joyce, “Case Grows for ‘Hobbit’ as Human Ancestor”, All Things Considered, National Public Radio
   • The hobbit became extinct 50,000 years ago, about the time the first humans arrived on Flores, but the Pacific rat lived on. 2018, Tim Flannery, Europe: The First 100 Million Years, Penguin, published 2019, page 270:
   • And in the island regions of southeast Asia, where the descendants of erectus, and the Hobbit, and any similar relict populations lived, climate changes would have greatly disrupted connections between regions and populations, as sea levels rose and fell by 100 metres or more. 2011, Chris Stringer, The Origin of Our Species, Penguin, published 2012, page 215:
   • The discovery of the Hobbit skeleton in Liang Bua cave in 2003 was an instant sensation. But what it said about human evolution was less clear. Discoverer Mike Morwood proposed that it was a shrunken Homo erectus, the same species that eventually evolved to become us; others suggested the Hobbits were descended from smaller, more primitive early humans such as Homo habilis or Australopithecus. 2016 June 9, James Griffiths, “This is how the ‘Hobbits’ of Indonesia became so small”, in CNN:
4. (US, slang, uncommon) A socially unappealing, overly academic student.

Forms

Deriveds

dwobbit · fobbit · hobbitlike · hobbity · hobbitry · hobbitness · hobbitic · hobbitish

Relateds

halfling

Synonyms

halfling · halfling

Translations (53)

bg хо́бит (fictional small humanoid creature) · nl hobbit (fictional small humanoid creature) · pl hobbitka (fictional small humanoid creature) · de Hobbit (fictional small humanoid creature) · cs půlčík (fictional small humanoid creature) · th ฮอบบิท (fictional small humanoid creature) · da hobbit (fictional small humanoid creature) · la hobbitus (fictional small humanoid creature) · fr homme de Florès (An extinct species of hominin) · ko 호빗 (fictional small humanoid creature) · pl hobbit (fictional small humanoid creature) · nn hobbit (fictional small humanoid creature) · el Χόμπιτ (fictional small humanoid creature) · pt hobbit (fictional small humanoid creature) · tr hobit (fictional small humanoid creature) · sh hobit (fictional small humanoid creature) · br hobbit (fictional small humanoid creature) · fr hobbit (fictional small humanoid creature) · he הוֹבִּיט (fictional small humanoid creature) · yi האָביט (fictional small humanoid creature) · sv hobbit (fictional small humanoid creature) · cs hobit (fictional small humanoid creature) · is hobbiti (fictional small humanoid creature) · ja ホビット (fictional small humanoid creature) · cy hobyd (fictional small humanoid creature) · es hobbit (fictional small humanoid creature) · ka ჰობიტი (fictional small humanoid creature) · tg ҳоббит (fictional small humanoid creature) · it hobbit (fictional small humanoid creature) · cmn 哈比人 (fictional small humanoid creature) · hsb hobit (fictional small humanoid creature) · bg хо́бит (An extinct species of hominin) · ga hobad (fictional small humanoid creature) · sv homp (fictional small humanoid creature) · sco hobbit (fictional small humanoid creature) · uk гобіт (fictional small humanoid creature) · mr हॉबिट (fictional small humanoid creature) · ca hòbbit (fictional small humanoid creature) · el χόμπιτ (fictional small humanoid creature) · hu hobbit (fictional small humanoid creature) · ru хо́ббит (fictional small humanoid creature) · fo hobbi (fictional small humanoid creature) · grc ὅββιτος (fictional small humanoid creature) · sv hob (fictional small humanoid creature) · sk hobbit (fictional small humanoid creature) · bn হবিট (fictional small humanoid creature) · gd hobat (fictional small humanoid creature) · ar هُوبِيت (fictional small humanoid creature) · fi hobitti (fictional small humanoid creature) · cmn 霍比特人 (fictional small humanoid creature) · tg хоббит (fictional small humanoid creature) · eo hobito (fictional small humanoid creature) · nb hobbit (fictional small humanoid creature)

wikidata: Q74359 · wikipedia: J. R. R. Tolkien · wikipedia: The Hobbit · wikipedia: The Lord of the Rings · wikidata: Q74359 · wikipedia: Denham Tracts

hobbit en · NOUN · etymology 2

Etymology

Probably from hoppet, hobbet (“basket”).

Meanings

1. A Welsh unit of weight, equal to four Welsh pecks, or 168 pounds.
2. (archaic) An old unit of volume (2+¹⁄₂ bushels, the volume of 168 pounds of wheat).

Forms