disembiggen
/ˌdɪsɪmˈbɪɡən/
verb
Origin
English
dis- + embiggen — The reversal of the act of making something larger.
Overview
Meaning Now
- To make something smaller; the antonym of 'embiggen'.
Literal older meaning
to remove the state of being big or enlarged
Language path
English
Earliest form
disembiggen
Earliest period
late 20th century
Journey
The word is a product of modern pop culture linguistics. 'Embiggen' was introduced in 'The Simpsons' as a mock-intellectual word, and 'disembiggen' followed as a logical, albeit humorous, morphological extension by fans and internet users to describe the process of shrinking.
Evolution
- 1996
embiggen
“to enlarge or make bigger”
Coined in the episode 'Lisa the Iconoclast' of the TV show 'The Simpsons'.
- late 20th/early 21st century
disembiggen
“to make smaller”
Back-formation and prefixing used to create an antonym.
Connections
Word parts
dis-
prefix
reversal of an action
em-
prefix
to make or put into a state
big
root
large
-gen
suffix
verbalizing suffix
Related words
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Related to disembiggen
External references use DefinedTerm semantics.