Suffix · forms nouns
From Middle Dutch "-kijn" (little): forms diminutives, often archaic or literary. Lambkin, catkin, napkin, bodkin, bumpkin, manikin, firkin, gherkin, pumpkin.
Written by Bryan López, English teacher · Updated
-kin comes from Middle Dutch "-kijn" (little). It was a productive diminutive suffix in Middle English that formed nouns meaning "small X" or "young X." lambkin = little lamb (term of endearment). catkin = the small, tail-like flower cluster of willows and birches. napkin = originally a small cloth ("nap" = cloth). Now standard everyday English. bodkin = a small pointed instrument (needle, pin or dagger).
Many common English words are -kin diminutives that have lost their diminutive feeling: napkin = "nap" (cloth) + -kin = small cloth. Now the standard word. gherkin = a small cucumber (from Dutch "gurken" + -kin). firkin = a small barrel (a quarter of a barrel). bumpkin = "boomken" (small tree) = country bumpkin = unsophisticated rural person. pumpkin = from "pompon" (melon) + -kin. manikin (or mannequin) = little man = tailor's dummy.
"lambkin" is used in Shakespeare as a tender endearment: "Come, my sweet lambkin" = come, my darling. Extremely affectionate and slightly archaic. "lambkin" survives in poetry and literary prose: "my poor lambkin," "her lambkins roam the hill." In Scottish English and dialect poetry, -kin diminutives are far more productive than in standard English. Burns uses them freely in his pastoral poetry.
Noun + kin. Produces diminutive nouns meaning "small/young X." No longer productive.
-kin is no longer a living suffix in Modern English. All surviving -kin words are historical fossils from Middle English and early Modern English. New diminutives are formed with "-let" or "-ling" instead.
-kin/kɪn/ · rhymes with thin
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These everyday words are all -kin diminutives where the diminutive meaning has been lost: napkin (small cloth), gherkin (small cucumber), pumpkin (small melon). The -kin form is fossilized but visible in the ending.
New diminutives in Modern English use "-let" (droplet, booklet) or "-ling" (duckling, seedling). A new "-kin" coinage would sound archaic or jokey: "dogkin" is not natural Modern English.
A trick to remember it
-kin = small/little (Middle Dutch diminutive). The suffix is frozen in everyday words: napkin, gherkin, pumpkin. Literary gem: "lambkin" (Shakespeare, Burns). -kin is no longer productive — use -let or -ling for new diminutives.
Exercise 1 · Form the word
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
Which of these everyday words is a fossilized -kin diminutive?
Exercise 3 · Pick the right one
How do we form new diminutives in Modern English?
The suffix -kin from Middle Dutch "-kijn" (little): forms diminutives, often archaic or literary. Lambkin, catkin, napkin, bodkin, bumpkin, manikin, firkin, gherkin, pumpkin. In Spanish it usually maps to -ín / -illo (diminutivo).
The ending -kin is pronounced /kɪn/ · rhymes with thin. For example, "lambkin".
"lamb" becomes "lambkin". It is a typical example of the -kin suffix.
From Germanic "-hard" (persistently excessive): forms pejorative nouns for a person who takes a negative trait to excess. Drunkard, braggart, dullard, dotard, laggard.
From French "-elet": forms diminutives of small or secondary things. Droplet, rivulet, hamlet, islet, booklet, leaflet, inlet, outlet.
From Old English "-ling": forms diminutives of young creatures, small beings or subordinate persons. Duckling, fledgling, sibling, underling, changeling.
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