belittle

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

[edit] English

[edit] Etymology

Coined by Thomas Jefferson in 1782 in "Notes on the State of Virginia": "So far the Count de Buffon has carried this new theory of the tendency of nature to belittle her productions on this side the Atlantic."

[edit] Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA: /bɨˈlɪt.əl/
•  Audio (US)^{help, file}

  Rhymes: -ɪtəl

[edit] Verb

to belittle (third-person singular simple present belittles, present participle belittling, simple past and past participle belittled)

1. To knowingly say that something is smaller or less important than it actually is.
   • 2006, Mark Steyn, Chapter 9, America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It, ISBN 0895260786, page 201:

     Under the rules as understood by the New York Times, the West is free to mock and belittle its Judeo-Christian inheritance, and, likewise, the Muslim world is free to mock and belittle the West's Judeo-Christian inheritance.

[edit] Related terms

• belittlement

[edit] Translations

[edit] See also

• disparage
• denigrate
• vilipend