hamlet
pronunciation
How to pronounce hamlet in British English:
UK [ˈhæmlət]
How to pronounce hamlet in American English:
US [ˈhæmlɪt]
-
- Noun:
- a community of people smaller than a village
- a settlement smaller than a town
Word Origin
- hamlet
- hamlet: [14] Hamlet is a double diminutive: etymologically it means ‘little little village’. It comes from Old French hamelet, a diminutive form of hamel, which was itself a diminutive of ham ‘village’. This was borrowed from a Germanic word related to English home, and to the -ham in many English place-names.=> home
- hamlet (n.)
- early 14c., from Old French hamelet "small village," diminutive of hamel "village," itself a diminutive of ham "village," from Frankish *haim or some other Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *haimaz "home" (see home (n.)); for ending, see -let. Especially a village without a church.
Synonym
Example
- 1. Eg. hamlet goes off stage left .
- 2. This week : the original prince of darkness , shakespeare 's hamlet .
- 3. Hamlet wasn 't even sorry when he realized it was polonius behind the curtain .
- 4. Scene five : hamlet becomes king of denmark , defeats the invading armies of fortinbras .
- 5. Hamlet 's pronouncement nevertheless provides a useful characterisation of the aim of the philosophers in this book .