hobbit

See also: Hobbit and hòbbit

English

Etymology 1

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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhɒbɪt/, [-ɪʔ]

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒbɪt

Noun

hobbit (plural hobbits or (humorous) hobbitses)

2. A member of a fictional race of small humanoids with shaggy hair and hairy feet. [from 20th c.]
   • 2008, Tom Holt, Falling Sideways, Orbit books,, →ISBN, page 3:

     It was his thirty-third birthday and already he had […] a little round tummy like a hobbit

   Synonym: halfling

   1. (humorous) 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. [from 21st c.]
   • 2007 September 20, Christopher Joyce, “Case Grows for ‘Hobbit’ as Human Ancestor”, All Things Considered, National Public Radio:

     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.

   • 2011, Chris Stringer, The Origin of Our Species, Penguin, published 2012, page 215:

     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.

   • 2018, Tim Flannery, Europe: The First 100 Million Years, Penguin, published 2019, page 270:

     The hobbit became extinct 50,000 years ago, about the time the first humans arrived on Flores, but the Pacific rat lived on.

4. (US, slang, uncommon) A socially unappealing, overly academic student.

Derived terms

• fobbit
• hobbitic
• hobbitish
• hobbitlike
• hobbitness
• hobbitry
• hobbity

 

Translations

fictional small humanoid creature

• Arabic: هُوبِيت m (hūbit)
• Bengali: হবিট (hobiṭ)
• Breton: hobbit m
• Bulgarian: хо́бит m (hóbit)
• Catalan: hòbbit m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 霍比特人 (zh) (huòbǐtè-rén), 哈比人 (hābǐ-rén) (Taiwan)

• Czech: hobit m, půlčík m
• Danish: hobbit c
• Dutch: hobbit (nl) m
• Esperanto: hobito (eo)
• Faroese: hobbi m
• Finnish: hobitti
• French: hobbit (fr) m
• Georgian: ჰობიტი (hobiṭi)
• German: Hobbit (de) m
• Greek: χόμπιτ (el) n (chómpit), Χόμπιτ (el) n (Chómpit)

  Ancient Greek: ὅββιτος m (hóbbitos)

• Hebrew: הוֹבִּיט m (hóbit)
• Hungarian: hobbit (hu)
• Icelandic: hobbiti m
• Irish: hobad m
• Italian: hobbit m
• Japanese: ホビット (hobitto)
• Korean: 호빗 (ko) (hobit)
• Latin: hobbitus m
• Marathi: हॉबिट m (hŏbiṭ)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hobbit m

  Nynorsk: hobbit m

• Polish: hobbit (pl) m, hobbitka (pl) f
• Portuguese: hobbit m
• Russian: хо́ббит (ru) m (xóbbit)
• Scots: hobbit
• Scottish Gaelic: hobbit m, hàbad m
• Serbo-Croatian: hobit m
• Slovak: hobbit m
• Sorbian:

  Upper Sorbian: hobit m

• Spanish: hobbit m
• Swedish: hobbit c, hob (sv) c, (dated) homp c
• Tajik: хоббит (xobbit), ҳоббит (hobbit)
• Thai: ฮอบบิท (hɔ́p-bìt)
• Turkish: hobit
• Ukrainian: гобіт m (hobit)
• Welsh: hobyd m
• Yiddish: האָביט m (hobit)

An extinct species of hominin

• French: homme de Florès (fr) m

See also

• halfling

Etymology 2

Probably from hoppet, hobbet (“basket”).

Noun

hobbit (plural hobbits)

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).

Hungarian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈhobːit]
• Hyphenation: hob‧bit
• Rhymes: -it

Etymology 1

hobbi +‎ -t

Noun

hobbit

1. accusative singular of hobbi

Etymology 2

From English hobbit; coined by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Noun

hobbit (plural hobbitok)

1. hobbit (a member of a fictional race of small humanoids with shaggy hair and hairy feet)

   Synonym: (the name of this creature in a different translation) babó

Declension

Inflection (stem in -o-, back harmony)
	singular	plural
nominative	hobbit	hobbitok
accusative	hobbitot	hobbitokat
dative	hobbitnak	hobbitoknak
instrumental	hobbittal	hobbitokkal
causal-final	hobbitért	hobbitokért
translative	hobbittá	hobbitokká
terminative	hobbitig	hobbitokig
essive-formal	hobbitként	hobbitokként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	hobbitban	hobbitokban
superessive	hobbiton	hobbitokon
adessive	hobbitnál	hobbitoknál
illative	hobbitba	hobbitokba
sublative	hobbitra	hobbitokra
allative	hobbithoz	hobbitokhoz
elative	hobbitból	hobbitokból
delative	hobbitról	hobbitokról
ablative	hobbittól	hobbitoktól
non-attributive possessive - singular	hobbité	hobbitoké
non-attributive possessive - plural	hobbitéi	hobbitokéi

Possessive forms of hobbit
possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	hobbitom	hobbitjaim
2nd person sing.	hobbitod	hobbitjaid
3rd person sing.	hobbitja	hobbitjai
1st person plural	hobbitunk	hobbitjaink
2nd person plural	hobbitotok	hobbitjaitok
3rd person plural	hobbitjuk	hobbitjaik

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English hobbit; coined by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɔb.bit/
• Hyphenation: hòb‧bit

Noun

hobbit m (invariable)

1. hobbit (a member of a fictional race of small humanoids with shaggy hair and hairy feet)

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From English hobbit; coined by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Noun

hobbit m (definite singular hobbiten, indefinite plural hobbiter, definite plural hobbitene)

1. hobbit (a member of a fictional race of small humanoids with shaggy hair and hairy feet)

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From English hobbit; coined by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Noun

hobbit m (definite singular hobbiten, indefinite plural hobbitar, definite plural hobbitane)

1. hobbit (a member of a fictional race of small humanoids with shaggy hair and hairy feet)

Polish

hobbici

Etymology

Borrowed from English hobbit.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈxɔb.bit/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔbbit
• Syllabification: hob‧bit

Noun

hobbit m animal or m pers (female equivalent hobbitka, related adjective hobbicki)

1. (fantasy) hobbit, halfling (member of a fictional race of small humanoids with shaggy hair and hairy feet)

Declension

Declension of hobbit

	singular	plural
nominative	hobbit	hobbity
genitive	hobbita	hobbitów
dative	hobbitowi	hobbitom
accusative	hobbita	hobbity
instrumental	hobbitem	hobbitami
locative	hobbicie	hobbitach
vocative	hobbicie	hobbity

or

Declension of hobbit

	singular	plural
nominative	hobbit	hobbici/hobbity (deprecative)
genitive	hobbita	hobbitów
dative	hobbitowi	hobbitom
accusative	hobbita	hobbitów
instrumental	hobbitem	hobbitami
locative	hobbicie	hobbitach
vocative	hobbicie	hobbici

Further reading

• hobbit in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English hobbit; coined by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈʁɔ.bi.t͡ʃi/ [ˈhɔ.bi.t͡ʃi], /ˈʁɔ.bit͡ʃ/ [ˈhɔ.bit͡ʃ]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈʁɔ.bi.t͡ʃi/ [ˈhɔ.bi.t͡ʃi], /ˈʁɔ.bit͡ʃ/ [ˈhɔ.bit͡ʃ]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ˈʁɔ.bi.t͡ʃi/ [ˈχɔ.bi.t͡ʃi], /ˈʁɔ.bit͡ʃ/ [ˈχɔ.bit͡ʃ]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈʁɔ.bit͡ʃ/ [ˈhɔ.bit͡ʃ], /ˈʁɔ.bi.t͡ʃi/ [ˈhɔ.bi.t͡ʃi]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈɔ.bi.tɨ/ [ˈɔ.βi.tɨ]

Noun

hobbit m or f by sense (plural hobbits)

1. hobbit (a member of a fictional race of small humanoids with shaggy hair and hairy feet)

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English hobbit; coined by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈxobit/ [ˈxo.β̞it̪]
• Rhymes: -obit

Noun

hobbit m (plural hobbits)

1. hobbit (a member of a fictional race of small humanoids with shaggy hair and hairy feet)

Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

References

• hobbit on the Spanish Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^es