hypocorism

noun

hy·​po·​co·​rism hī-ˈpä-kə-ˌri-zəm  ˌhī-pə-ˈkȯr-ˌi-zəm 

1

: a pet name

2

: the use of pet names

hypocoristic

ˌhī-pə-kə-ˈri-stik 

adjective

or hypocoristical

ˌhī-pə-kə-ˈri-sti-kəl 

hypocoristically

ˌhī-pə-kə-ˈri-sti-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

Did you know?

In Late Latin and Greek, the words hypocorisma and hypokorisma had the same meaning as hypocorism does in English today. They in turn evolved from the Greek verb hypokorizesthai ("to call by pet names"), which itself comes from korizesthai ("to caress"). Hypocorism joined the English language in the mid-19th century and was once briefly a buzzword among linguists, who used it rather broadly to mean "adult baby talk"—that is, the altered speech adults use when supposedly imitating babies. Once the baby talk issue faded, hypocorism settled back into being just a fancy word for a pet name. Pet names can be diminutives like "Johnny" for "John," endearing terms such as "honey-bunch," or, yes, names from baby talk, like "Nana" for "Grandma."

Examples of hypocorism in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Someone named the fog Karl, but none of our other weather gets a hypocorism. —Kevin Fisher-Paulson, SFChronicle.com, 29 Sep. 2020

Word History

Etymology

Late Latin hypocorisma, from Greek hypokorisma, from hypokorizesthai to call by pet names, from hypo- + korizesthai to caress, from koros boy, korē girl

First Known Use

1850, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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