lilliputian

See also: Lilliputian

English

WOTD – 19 March 2006

Alternative forms

• Lilliputian

Etymology

From the name of a fictional island called Lilliput in the novel Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌlɪlɪˈpjuʃən/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːʃən

Noun

lilliputian (plural lilliputians)

1. A very small person or being.
   • 1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “A Great Storm Described, the Long-Boat Sent to Fetch Water, the Author Goes with It to Discover the Country. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume I, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part II (A Voyage to Brobdingnag), page 158:

     I reflected what a Mortification it muſt prove to me to appear as inconſiderable in this Nation as one ſingle Lilliputian would be among us.

2. (genetics) A fruit fly gene that, when mutated, makes cells abnormally small. See AFF2.

Derived terms

• lilliputianism
• lilliputianize
• Lilliputianly
• Lilliputian vision

Related terms

• lilliput

Translations

small person or being

• Arabic: قَزَم m (qazam)
• Basque: liliputar
• Catalan: lil·liputenc m, lil·liputenca f
• Dutch: lilliputter (nl) m
• Esperanto: liliputano
• Finnish: lilliputti (fi)
• French: lilliputien (fr) m, lilliputienne (fr) f
• Galician: liliputiano m, liliputiana f
• German: Liliputaner (de) m, Liliputanerin (de) f
• Ido: Liliputala (io), Liliputatra (io)
• Indonesian: liliput (id)
• Italian: lillipuziano (it) m, lillipuziana f
• Polish: liliput (pl) m, liliputka f
• Portuguese: liliputiano m, liliputiana f
• Russian: лилипу́т (ru) m (lilipút), ка́рлик (ru) m (kárlik) (dwarf)
• Spanish: liliputiense (es)
• Swedish: lilleputt (sv) c

See also

• tiddler
• munchkin

Adjective

lilliputian (comparative more lilliputian, superlative most lilliputian)

1. Very small, diminutive
   • 1827, Lydia Sigourney, Poems, A Thunder Storm, while Travelling, page 129:

     —O'er the expanse
     Of glittering waters glides the snowy sail;—
     The lilliputian boat by infants mann'd,
     Steers amid fairy islets, circles round
     The indented shore,—...

2. Trivial, petty

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:tiny

Antonyms

• Brobdingnagian

Translations

very small

• Finnish: lilliputtimainen
• French: lilliputien (fr)
• German: liliputanisch
• Turkish: küçücük (tr), küçük (tr), minicik (tr), minik (tr), ufak tefek (tr), bir damla (tr), bir damlacık, liliputyen (only in psychiatry)