hobbitn.
/ˈhɒbɪt/, U.S. /ˈhɑbət/ In the tales of J. R. R. Tolkien (1892–1973): one of an imaginary people, a small variety of the human race, that gave themselves this name (meaning ‘hole-dweller’) but were called by others halflings, since they were half the height of normal men. Also attributive and in other combinations.
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the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > mythical creature or object > [noun] > imaginary persons or creatures > hobbit
hobbit1937
society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > narrative or story > fiction > [noun] > creation or description of characters > specific character or creature
big-endian1726
Sleeping Beauty1729
little-endian1749
small-endian1819
panjandrum1825
shock-headed Peter1848
flopsy bunny1909
Pollyanna1921
Tarzan1921
hobbit1937
orc1937
superman1938
Moomin1950
Dalek1963
1937 J. R. R. Tolkien Hobbit i. 11 In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.
1954 J. R. R. Tolkien Fellowship of Ring 7 The memoirs of the renowned Hobbits, Bilbo and Frodo.
1954 J. R. R. Tolkien Fellowship of Ring 11 A few notes..are here collected from Hobbit-lore.
1954 J. R. R. Tolkien Fellowship of Ring i. i. 46 It was a tendency of hobbit-holes to get cluttered up.
1955 J. R. R. Tolkien Return of King 416 Hobbit is an invention. In the Westron the word used, when this people was referred to at all, was banakil ‘halfling’. But..the folk of the Shire and of Bree used the word kuduk... It seems likely that kaduk was a worn-down form of kûd-dûkan [= ‘hole-dweller’]. The latter I have translated..by holbytla [‘hole-builder’]; and hobbit provides a word that might well be a worn-down form of holbytla, if the name had occurred in our own ancient language.
1962 Listener 22 Nov. 881/3 The more ambitious hobbit saga, The Lord of the Rings.
1968 Listener 20 June 790/3 Professer Tolkien was thinking of the average, ambling Englishman when he wrote about his hobbits.
1970 H. Perry Human Be-In i. 20 The consistently good people in the Tolkien books are Hobbits and they have the lowliest status of all the groups of characters in the books. The hippies thought of themselves as being or becoming Hobbits; from time to time as the winter wore on, a sign would appear in the window of one of their gathering places to this effect: Do not add to the street confusion this weekend... Be good little Hobbits and stay home.
Derivatives
ˈhobbitish adj. resembling a hobbit, hobbit-like.
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the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > mythical creature or object > [adjective] > imaginary person or creature > resembling or characteristic of
Moomin-like1965
hobbitish1966
society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > narrative or story > fiction > [adjective] > specific character
big-endian1726
Sleeping Beauty1729
little-endian1828
Mickey Mouse1930
Sherlock Holmesian1958
Sherlockian1959
Dalek1963
Pooterish1963
Moomin-like1965
hobbitish1966
James Bondish1966
James Bond1967
1966 New Statesman 11 Nov. 701/2 The newest and richest site of hobbitry is the American campus, where students are said to greet each other with hobbitish salutations such as ‘May your beard never grow less’.
ˈhobbitomane n. a devotee of hobbits.
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the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > mythical creature or object > [noun] > imaginary persons or creatures > hobbit > devotee of
hobbitomane1962
society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > narrative or story > fiction > [noun] > creation or description of characters > specific character or creature > devotee of
Holmesian1958
hobbitomane1962
1962 Listener 22 Nov. 881/3 To those who are already hobbitomanes, this book is bound to be a delight.
ˈhobbitry n. the cult of hobbits; hobbits collectively, or their qualities.
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the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > mythical creature or object > [noun] > imaginary persons or creatures > hobbit > collectively
hobbitry1947
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > mythical creature or object > [noun] > imaginary persons or creatures > hobbit > qualities of
hobbitry1947
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > mythical creature or object > [noun] > imaginary persons or creatures > hobbit > cult of
hobbitry1947
society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > narrative or story > fiction > [noun] > creation or description of characters > specific character or creature > collectively
hobbitry1947
society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > narrative or story > fiction > [noun] > creation or description of characters > specific character or creature > qualities of
hobbitry1947
society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > narrative or story > fiction > [noun] > creation or description of characters > specific character or creature > cult of
hobbitry1947
1947 C. S. Lewis Ess. presented to C. Williams 104 The Hobbit escapes the danger of degenerating into mere plot and excitement by a very curious shift of tone. As the humour and homeliness of the early chapters, the sheer ‘Hobbitry’, dies away we pass insensibly into the world of epic.
1954 J. R. R. Tolkien Fellowship of Ring 20 The Thain was..captain of the Shire-muster and the Hobbitry-in-arms.
1966Hobbitry [see hobbitish adj.]. Draft additions June 2015
(The nickname of) a small human-like organism whose remains were discovered on the Indonesian island of Flores in 2003 and have been dated to between 38,000 and 13,000 years ago, taken by some scientists to represent an extinct dwarf hominid species and named Homo floresiensis.The status of the specimens remains controversial, with some workers considering them to be pathological individuals of H. sapiens.
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2004 ABC Premium News (Austral.) (Nexis) 21 Sept. What the hobbit remains are now telling us is that the hominines that we thought went extinct at least a million or more years ago, here is one surviving lineage.
2010 F. Spier Big Hist. & Future of Humanity Notes 230 The Homo floresiensis (better known as the Hobbit, because it was so little) might have been a Homo erectus that lived until about 18,000 years ago.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1976; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1937