thumbling
English
Etymology
From thumb + -ling. Compare Dutch duimeling, Middle Low German dûmelinc, dûmelink, German Däumling. Compare also Icelandic þumlungur (“thumb; inch”) (measurement).
Noun
thumbling (plural thumblings)
- A tiny, thumb-sized person; manikin
- 1989, Rita Knipe, The Water of Life:
- 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.
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- Anything small, comparable to the size of a human thumb
- 1946, Thomas Fleming Day, The Rudder - Volume 62:
- 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 — […]
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See also
- Tom Thumb