Suffix · forms nouns
An old diminutive suffix no longer used to create new words, but still "frozen" inside very common words: napkin, pumpkin, gherkin.
Written by Bryan López, English teacher · Updated
-kin used to mean "small" and formed diminutives, but stopped being used centuries ago. What matters today: several very common words are actually fossilized -kin diminutives, even though you no longer feel that meaning: napkin (nap = small cloth), pumpkin, gherkin (small pickle).
You cannot invent a new word with -kin today ("dogkin" is not a word). New diminutives in English use -let (droplet, booklet) or -ling (duckling, seedling). "-kin" only survives in the handful of already-fixed words like napkin and pumpkin.
No longer productive: these are the fossilized words that remain, grouped by type.
-kin/kɪn/ · rhymes with thin
Tap the button to hear how the ending sounds. Each word in the table has its own audio.
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
Think of "napkin" as just a regular napkin, not "a diminutive of nap". The trick: -kin is fossilized inside 3 everyday words (napkin, pumpkin, gherkin), don't look for it anywhere else.
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 an old diminutive suffix no longer used to create new words, but still "frozen" inside very common words: napkin, pumpkin, gherkin. 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.
Forms a closed group of words meaning "a small version of something": bracelet, tablet, droplet, booklet. It is not productive, you cannot add -let to any noun, each word has to be learned on its own.
From Old English "-ling": forms diminutives of young creatures, small beings or subordinate persons. Duckling, fledgling, sibling, underling, changeling.
-tion, -ness, -ful, -ly, -able... every ending you need to understand thousands of words at once.