Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

thumbling

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables: thum-bling
IPA

17

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

2

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A tiny, thumb-sized person; manikin

noun

Anything small, comparable to the size of a human thumb

Example Sentences

"There is a long list of such spirits, including dwarfs, elves, gnomes, brownies, pixies, leprechauns, thumblings (like Tom Thumb), and dactyli (which means fingers). As with the Menehune, the thumblings and the dactyl-fingers are masculine figures, and so are the ancient gnomes."
"Passing through the kitchen to the scullery, to which place she ordered us, I saw Deborah was very busy frying thumblings — small croquettes about the size of a big man's thumb — […]"

Etymology

From thumb + -ling. Compare Dutch duimeling, Middle Low German dûmelinc, dûmelink, German Däumling. Compare also Icelandic þumlungur (“thumb; inch”) (measurement).

Word Breakdown

Suffix: thumb

Inflected Forms

thumblings (plural)

Phrases

Tom Thumb

Frequently Paired Words

Tom Thumb

Questions

What does thumbling mean?: A tiny, thumb-sized person; manikin
Where does thumbling come from?: From thumb + -ling. Compare Dutch duimeling, Middle Low German dûmelinc, dûmelink, German Däumling. Compare also Icelandic þumlungur (“thumb; inch”) (measurement).

How to pronounce thumbling

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