"dimunition"

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

On May 14, 2007, at 8:43 AM, Ben Zimmer wrote:

> "Classic" is right -- Google Books Search has examples of "dimunition"
> back to 1653 (_The voyages and adventures of Fernand Mendez Pinto_),
> and EEBO takes it back to 1571 (_The contemplation of mankinde_,
> Thomas Hill). The variant/error goes unmentioned by the OED, however.

not in Brians.  but then many of the reshapings in the direction of
more common word-form patterns don't make it into such references.  i
have about thirty of these now, some of which i've posted on here (or
on Language Log): doctorial, overature, perculate/perculation/
perculator, nuptual, intravenious, dialate, longivity, etc.  (this is
just a sample.)  i haven't looked at most of these from the
historical point of view.

ah, i now see it's in Garner's MAU (p. 253), with a 1994 cite from
the Chicago Trib sports pages.

arnold

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