Dictionary

hypocorism en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /haɪˈpɒ.kəˌɹɪ.zəm/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /haɪˈpɑ.kəˌɹɪ.zəm/ (General-American)
• /hɪ-/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin hypocorisma, a loan from Ancient Greek ὑποκόρισμα (hupokórisma), ὑποκορισμός (hupokorismós, “pet name”), from ὑποκορίζεσθαι (hupokorízesthai), ὑποκορίζομαι (hupokorízomai, “to use a pet name; to act in a childish manner”), from ῠ̔πο- (hŭpo-, prefix indicating a small degree) + κορίζομαι (korízomai, “to caress”) (from κόρος (kóros, “boy; youth”), κόρη (kórē, “girl; young woman”)).

Meanings

1. (countable) A term of endearment, often a diminutive; a pet name.
   • Another example are hypocorisms (nicknames based on personal names) derived via language-specific word formation processes. In Amadeus, the German hypocorisms for Wolfgang and Constanze, Wolfie and Stanzi, can pass as German as well as American English – however, the latter hearing is encouraged by Constanze's pronunciation of the first vowel in Wolfie as [ˈvʊlfɪ] rather than German [ˈvɒlfɪ]. 2008, Lukas Bleichenbacher, “Replacement Strategies”, in Multilingualism in the Movies: Hollywood Characters and Their Language Choices (Schweizer Anglistische Arbeiten [Swiss Studies in English]), Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg: Francke Verlag, →ISBN, →ISSN, section 5.3 (Evocation), page 66:
   • "Mary" is informed that "Polly" is one of those "hypocorisms," or pet-names, in which our language abounds. Most are mere abbreviations, as Will, Nat, Pat, Bell, &c., taken usually from the beginning, sometimes from the end of the name. 1850 February 2, Benj[amin] H[all] Kennedy, “Pet-names”, in Notes and Queries: A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc., volume I, number 16, London: George Bell, […], published 16 February 1850, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 242, column 1:
   • Cabbage, however, has enjoyed unlikely success as a hypocorism, a usage that dates back to the mid nineteenth century; this usage arose as a direct translation of chou, which French lovers had been calling each other for a long time: "Oh, mon petit chou"—"Oh, my little cabbage." 2003, Mark Steven Morton, “My Swete Hurle Bawsy: Terms of Endearment”, in The Lover’s Tongue: A Merry Romp through the Language of Love and Sex, Toronto, Ont.: Insomniac Press, →ISBN, page 52:
   • For the flattering hypocorisms of lovers and parents see Plut. de Leg. Poet. p. 44; [...] 1865, Frederic W[illiam] Farrar, “The Nature of Words”, in Chapters on Language, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, footnote 3, pages 281–282:
   • The addition of diminutive or familiar prefixes and suffixes to the name of a saint to produce a 'pet name' or hypocorism, is common in the Celtic areas and would at times seem to produce extra saints from doublets of existing names. 2000, Karen Jankulak, “The Cult of St Petroc in Cornwall”, in The Medieval Cult of St Petroc (Studies in Celtic History; 19), Woodbridge, Suffolk: The Boydell Press, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 41:
   • Barney's own name is a hypocorism of Barnabas or Barnaby; Ted is a clipping of Theodore, which commonly becomes the hypocorism Teddy; among Barney's many sexual encounters were Wendy, Abby, and Jenny, each a hypocorism of original names Gwendolyn, Abigail, and Jennifer. 2016, Jessie Sams, “Word Formation in HIMYM [How I Met Your Mother]”, in Kristy Beers Fägersten, editor, Watching TV with a Linguist, Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, →ISBN, page 172:
2. (uncountable) The formation of terms of endearment or pet names.
   • St Peter's cult, which dates from the earliest period in Brittany, is represented in the toponymy only in the radical form of his name, without hypocorism or mutation. 2000, Karen Jankulak, “The Cult of St Petroc in Cornwall”, in The Medieval Cult of St Petroc (Studies in Celtic History; 19), Woodbridge, Suffolk: The Boydell Press, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 42:
   • A variant on clipping that is common in Australian English is hypocorism. This involves first clipping a word down to a closed monosyllable. Next the suffix -y ~ -ie (/i/) is attached to the clipped form. Some examples are Aussie 'Australian', brekky 'breakfast', bickie 'biscuit', barbie 'barbeque' and telly 'television'. 2015, William B. McGregor, “Structure of Words: Morphology”, in Linguistics: An Introduction, 2nd edition, London; New York, N.Y.: Bloomsbury Academic, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, Part I (Language: System and Structure), page 86:
   • An acronym that never seems to have had capital letters comes from "young urban professional", plus the -ie suffix, as in hypocorism, to produce the word yuppie (first recorded in 1984). 2010, George Yule, “Word Formation”, in The Study of Language, 4th edition, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire; New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 60:
3. (rare, uncountable) Baby talk, such as bow-wow for dog and choo-choo for train.
   • In European languages reduplication is often associated with hypocorism or baby talk (e.g. wee-wee, or French bonbon) but this is not the case in the Atlantic creoles and the Niger-Congo languages. 1988, John Holm, “Lexicosemantics”, in Pidgins and Creoles (Cambridge Language Surveys), volumes I (Theory and Structure), Cambridge, Cambridgeshire; New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press, published 1995, →ISBN, section 3.3.5 (Reduplication), page 88:

Forms

Relateds

hypocoristical · hypocoristically · hypocoristic

Synonyms

sobriquet · hypocoristicon · pet form · nickname · pet name · hypocoristic

Translations (51)

hu becenév (term of endearment) · sh хипокористик (term of endearment) · cmn 暱稱 /昵称 (term of endearment) · pl hipokorystyk (term of endearment) · es hipocorístico (term of endearment) · is stuttnefni (term of endearment) · gl hipocorístico (term of endearment) · sh одмилица (term of endearment) · pl hipokorystykum (term of endearment) · nl hypokorisme (term of endearment) · ru уменьши́тельно-ласка́тельное и́мя (term of endearment) · nl koosnaampje (term of endearment) · el υποκοριστικό (term of endearment) · is gælunafn (term of endearment) · sh odmilica (term of endearment) · nb kjælenamn (term of endearment) · pt hipocorístico (term of endearment) · de Hypokoristikon (term of endearment) · fr hypocoristique (term of endearment) · de Hypokorismus (formation of terms of endearment or pet names) · ka კნინობითი სახელი (term of endearment) · sk hypokoristikum (term of endearment) · grc ὑποκορισμός (formation of terms of endearment or pet names) · el υποκορισμός (formation of terms of endearment or pet names) · ru ласка́тельное и́мя (term of endearment) · ca hipocorístic (term of endearment) · sv hypokorism (term of endearment) · de Lallname (term of endearment) · ru уменьши́тельное и́мя (term of endearment) · pl hipokorystyk (formation of terms of endearment or pet names) · sk hypokoristikon (term of endearment) · el υποκόρισμα (term of endearment) · nb kjælenavn (term of endearment) · ka საალერსო სახელი (term of endearment) · grc ὑποκόρισμα (term of endearment) · fi lempinimi (term of endearment) · sv smeknamn (term of endearment) · de Hypokoristikum (term of endearment) · la hypocorisma (term of endearment) · da kælenavn (term of endearment) · hu becézés (term of endearment) · nl koosnaam (term of endearment) · de Kosename (term of endearment) · pl hipokorystykum (formation of terms of endearment or pet names) · cmn 小名 (term of endearment) · it ipocoristico (term of endearment) · et hüpokorism (term of endearment) · ro hipocoristic (term of endearment) · sh hipokoristik (term of endearment) · cs hypokoristikon (term of endearment) · hu becézett alak (term of endearment)