Word.ws English Dictionary

-ikin

-ikin is the alternative form of -kin.

Meaning of -kin

Suffix (1)

-kin (adjective-forming suffix, not comparable)

  1. (dialectal) Used to form adjectives expressing resemblance or likeness to, similar to -like.
    • alkin
  2. (plural -kin) Used to form nouns having qualities of or belonging to a particular kind, class, or sort.
    • otakukin

Suffix (2)

-kin (noun-forming suffix, plural -kins)

  1. (archaic) Forming diminutives of nouns.
    Synonyms:
    -cule, -ee, -el, -et, -ette, -icle, -ie, -le, -let, -ling

Origin of -ikin

From Middle English -ekyn. Representing Proto-West Germanic *-ikīn, *-ukīn, a double diminutive, from *-ik, *-uk (> Old English -oc) + *-īn (compare Old English -en). Possibly influenced by Dutch, Middle Dutch, and Old Dutch diminutives ending in -eken and -ekijn and their English borrowings, such as Old Dutch spelleken (English spilikin), Middle Dutch cannekijn /kanneken (English canakin /canikin /cannikin), mannekijn (Dutch manneken, English manikin /mannikin), minnekijn (English minikin), and Dutch godeken (English goddikin /godkin), or other English formations with -kin ending in -ikin, such as bodikin, boikin, sillikin, and the possibly so formed larrikin.

Questions about -ikin

What is -ikin the alternative form of?
-ikin is the alternative form of -kin.

Words near -ikin in the dictionary

  1. -iform
  2. -ify
  3. -ifying
  4. -ign
  5. -ii
  6. -ikin
  7. -ile
  8. -ilide
  9. -illiard
  10. -illion
  11. -ily

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: -ikin (page history and authors); -kin (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “-ikin.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/-ikin. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.