tittynope

English

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.

Noun

tittynope (plural tittynopes)

1. (very rare) A small amount left over; a modicum.
   • 2016, Leah Edwards, “Love like Popchips”, in Wooden Teeth (The George Washington University)‎^[2], volume 39, page 29, column 1:

     When I ask if she can spare a tittynope of her love for this hopeless sailor

   • 2021, Lucy Griffith, “Meet Me at the Growlery”, in Diane Lockward, editor, The Strategic Poet: Honing the Craft‎^[3], Terrapin Books (e-book via eBookIt.com), →ISBN, →OCLC:

     We will sip tea, binge and brannigan
     on vocabulary, nibble on sweets and yes―
     leave a small bit, a tittynope, for the birds.

   • 2022 January, AeroModeller Magazine‎^[4], number 1016 (ADH098), Doolittle Media, EAN-13:9770001923011, archived from the original on 12 January 2022, page 10:

     very consistent fuel feed throughout, so that not even a tittynope of fuel remains in the tank

Further reading

• Joseph Wright, editor (1905), “TITTYNOPE, sb.”, in The English Dialect Dictionary: […], volumes VI (T–Z, Supplement, Bibliography and Grammar), London: Henry Frowde, […], publisher to the English Dialect Society, […]; New York, N.Y.: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, →OCLC, page 170, column 1: “Yks. A small quantity of anything left over, esp. a small bundle of corn in gleaning. Cf. titty-mouse, sb.²”