Humpty Dumpty

English

Etymology

Possibly baby talk forms of Humphrey, since Dump and Dumphry have been recorded as pet forms of this given name.[1] Various suggestions have been offered for the original meaning of the nursery rhyme, chiefly concerning the English Civil War, although none has received general acceptance.

Proper noun

Humpty Dumpty

  1. A nursery rhyme character who falls from a wall and breaks irreparably in the manner of an egg; (figurative) by extension, anything similarly fragile, irreparably damaged, or insecure, precariously at risk of such irreparable damage.
    • 1907, Annie van Sommer et al., Our Moslem Sisters..., page 210:
      ... she sits perched high up, astride a man's saddle, looking in her balloon garments, and doubtless feeling, more insecure than Humpty Dumpty on the wall.
    • 2009, Philip Kennedy, A Modern Introduction to Theology: New Questions for Old Beliefs:
      For many people, traditional Christian theology is a Humpty-Dumpty: it has tumbled from its perch and can't be put together again.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

Humpty Dumpty (uncountable)

  1. (obsolete) A Romani drink of ale boiled with brandy.

References

  1. ^ E.G.Withycombe: The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names. Oxford University Press 1971.
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