Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

tittynope

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables: tit-tynope
IPA

14

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

2

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A small amount left over; a modicum.

Example Sentences

"When I ask if she can spare a tittynope of her love for this hopeless sailor"
"We will sip tea, binge and brannigan on vocabulary, nibble on sweets and yes― leave a small bit, a tittynope, for the birds."
"very consistent fuel feed throughout, so that not even a tittynope of fuel remains in the tank"

Etymology

Originally Yorkshire dialect for a small quantity of grain in gleaning. EDD gives titty-mouse, found in West Yorkshire, as a synonym; the same word has an additional meaning of titmouse (“small bird, chickadee”) in the dialects of Lancashire and Norfolk, and is likely a variant thereof. By analogy, tittynope might be from tit (“chickadee; bit, morsel”) + -y + nope (“bullfinch, titmouse”). Note that "tit-nope" is attested dialectally, referring to the blue tit. On the other hand, some websites give a derivation from tittle (“dot of the letter i; modicum, speck”). There are many similar-sounding words meaning "small" such as itty-bitty and little, so the first part of the word could simply be an example of sound symbolism; although if the etymology above is correct, it likely derives from the same source as the bird tit.

Inflected Forms

tittynopes (plural)

Questions

What does tittynope mean?: A small amount left over; a modicum.
Where does tittynope come from?: Originally Yorkshire dialect for a small quantity of grain in gleaning. EDD gives titty-mouse, found in West Yorkshire, as a synonym; the same word has an additional meaning of titmouse (“small bird, chickadee”) in the dialects of Lancashire and Norfolk, and is likely a variant thereof. By analogy, tittynope might be from tit (“chickadee; bit, morsel”) + -y + nope (“bullfinch, titmouse”). Note that "tit-nope" is attested dialectally, referring to the blue tit. On the other hand, some websites give a derivation from tittle (“dot of the letter i; modicum, speck”). There are many similar-sounding words meaning "small" such as itty-bitty and little, so the first part of the word could simply be an example of sound symbolism; although if the etymology above is correct, it likely derives from the same source as the bird tit.

How to pronounce tittynope

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