Hypocoristic
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A hypocoristic is a pet name or term of endearment, a lesser form of the given name used in more intimate situations. Often generated as
- a contracted form of a given name (such as Tony from Anthony)
- a given name with a diminutive suffix
- -ito/-ita or ín/ina in Spanish (such as Carmelina or Carmencita from Carmen)
- -ie or -y in English (such as Vicky from Victoria)
- double syllablic in various languages (such as John-John)
The world "hypocoristic" is used as a noun or adjective in English, some other languages prefer to use the original Greek word "hypocoristicon" as a noun. The noun "hypocoristicon" seems to be rarely used in English.
See Diminutive. and Nickname
Related: Hypocoristics for Spanish names