kleinood

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch cleinode. In the meaning ‘precious object’ it is earliest attested in 1240 From 'klein' meaning small and -ood general noun forming suffix originally used to produce abstract non-tangible concepts but was later used for tangible objects.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /klɛi̯ˈnoːt/, /ˈklɛi̯.noːt/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: klei‧nood
• Rhymes: -oːt

Noun

kleinood n (plural kleinoden or kleinodiën, diminutive kleinoodje n)

1. A small but valuable object or trinket.