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{{Short description|Word used by J.R.R. Tolkien}}
{{italic title}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2022}}
The word '''''hobbit''''' was used by [[J. R. R. Tolkien]] as the name of [[hobbit|a race of small humanoids]] in [[Tolkien's legendarium|his fantasy fiction]], the first published being ''[[The Hobbit]]'' in 1937. The ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'', which added an entry for the word in the 1970s, credits Tolkien with [[neologism|coining]] it. Since then, however, it has been noted that there is prior evidence of the word, in a 19th-century list of legendary creatures. In 1971, Tolkien stated that he remembered making up the word himself, admitting that there was nothing but his "nude parole" to support the claim that he was uninfluenced by such similar words as ''[[hobgoblin]]''. His choice may have been affected on his own admission by the title of [[Sinclair Lewis]]'s 1922 novel ''[[Babbitt (novel)|Babbitt]]''. The Tolkien scholar [[Tom Shippey]] has pointed out several parallels, including comparisons in ''The Hobbit'', with the word "rabbit".

== Use by Tolkien ==

=== Proposed etymology ===

By Tolkien's own account, the coining of the name ''[[hobbit]]'' was a spontaneous flash of intuition. When he was busy grading examination papers, the word popped into his mind, not in isolation but as part of an entire sentence, which was to become the [[wikt:incipit|incipit]] of ''The Hobbit'', "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit."<ref>{{cite book|last=Carpenter |first=Humphrey |author-link=Humphrey Carpenter |title=[[J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography|Tolkien: The Authorized Biography]] |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin]] Co. |location=Boston |year=1977 |page=172}}</ref>

Tolkien etymologized the name ''hobbit'' as the regular [[Modern English]] outcome of a hypothetical [[Old English]] ''*hol-bytla'' "hole builder". Within the linguistic fiction of ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', the English etymology of Old English ''hol-bytlan'' → Modern English ''hobbit'' is the supposed translation of an "original" etymology of [[Rohirric]] ''kud-dukan'' → [[Westron]] ''kuduk''.

=== Tolkien's statements ===

On 16 January 1938, shortly after the original release of ''The Hobbit'' a letter by a ''Habit'' in the English paper ''[[The Observer]]'' asked if Tolkien's Hobbits were modelled after "'little furry men' seen in Africa by natives and … at least one scientist", and also referenced an old fairy tale called ''The Hobbit'' from 1904, but Tolkien denied using these sources as inspiration, and no trace of the African Hobbits or the fairy tale collection was ever found. Tolkien replied to this letter with:
:"I do not remember anything about the name and inception of the hero… I have no waking recollection of furry pigmies (in book or moonlight); nor of any Hobbit bogey in print by 1904. I suspect that the two hobbits are accidental homophones, and am content that they are not synonymous. And I protest that my hobbit did not live in Africa, and was not furry, except about the feet. Nor indeed was he a rabbit…."

Tolkien also acknowledged the possible unconscious connection to others' writings, particularly those of [[Sinclair Lewis]], who wrote the novel ''[[Babbitt (novel)|Babbitt]]'' in 1922. In a 1966 correspondence with Professor Harry Bauer of the University of Washington, Tolkien wrote, "...I now wonder whether Sinclair Lewis's <u>Babbitt</u> had not some part in the invention of this name: ''hobbit''. I read all of Sinclair Lewis's works."<ref>{{ME-ref|Letters|Letter to Harry C. Bauer, 24 November 1966}}</ref>

In 1970 the Oxford Dictionary wrote to Professor Tolkien asking for the origins of the word, as they wished to include 'Hobbit' in the dictionary. Tolkien replied:

: "For the moment this is held up, because I am having the matter of the etymology: 'Invented by J. R. R. Tolkien': investigated by experts. I knew that the claim was not clear, but I had not troubled to look into it, until faced by the inclusion of hobbit in the Supplement."

In the event Hobbit was fully ascribed to Tolkien, as no earlier source was found.
{{quote|hobbit n. one of an imaginary race of half-sized persons in stories by Tolkien; hence ~RY (5) n. [invented by J.R.R. Tolkien, Engl. writer d. 1973, and said by him to mean 'hole-builder']|''The [[Concise Oxford Dictionary]] of Current English''}}

In 1971 Tolkien once again referred to his "invention":
:"The Ox. E. D. has in preparation of its Second Supplement got to Hobbit, which it proposes to include together with its progeny: hobbitry, -ish, etc. I have had, therefore, to justify my claim to have invented the word. My claim rests really on my 'nude parole' or unsupported assertion that I remember the occasion of its invention (by me); and that I had not then any knowledge of Hobberdy, Hobbaty, Hobberdy Dick etc. (for 'house-sprites')†; and that my 'hobbits' were in any case of wholly dissimilar sort, a diminutive branch of the human race.

:"† I have now! Probably more than most other folk; and find myself in a v. tangled wood—the clue to which is, however, the belief in incubi and 'changelings'. Alas! one conclusion is that the statement that hobgoblins were 'a larger kind' is the reverse of the original truth. (The statement occurs in the preliminary note on Runes devised for the paperback edition, but now included by [[Allen & Unwin|A & U]] in all edns.)"

== Possible inspirations ==

=== Hob-beings ===

The name ''hobbit'' for a diminutive legendary creature fits into a category of English words in ''hob-'' for such beings, based on the [[Middle English]] ''hobbe''. These include hob, [[hobby]], [[hobgoblin]], Hobberdy Dick, Hobberdy, Hobbaty, hobbidy, [[Hobley]], [[wikt:hobbledehoy|hobbledehoy]], hobble, hobi, hobyn (small horse), [[hobby horse]] (perhaps from Hobin), Hobby (nickname for Robert), [[The Hobyahs|hobyah]], Hob Lantern.<ref>cf. [http://www.yourdictionary.com/ahd/h/h0227800.html yourdictionary.com], based on OED. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070214052756/http://www.yourdictionary.com/ahd/h/h0227800.html |date=February 14, 2007 }}</ref> This theory was reinforced when in 1977 the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' announced that it had found the source that it supposed Tolkien to have used: J. Hardy's 1895 ''The [[Denham Tracts]], Volume 2'', which stated that "The whole earth was overrun with ghosts, boggles ... hobbits, hobgoblins." The Tolkien scholar [[Tom Shippey]] writes that the list was, however, of ghostly creatures without bodies, nothing like Tolkien's solid flesh-and-blood hobbits.{{sfn|Shippey|2005|pp=76-78}}

=== Rabbit ===

Shippey notes a different connection, with [[rabbit]], something that Tolkien "emphatically rejected",{{sfn|Shippey|2005|pp=76-78}} although the word appears in ''The Hobbit'' in other characters' opinions of Bilbo in several places.<ref name="O'Brien 1989">{{cite journal |last1=O'Brien |first1=Donald |title=On the Origin of the Name "Hobbit" |journal=Mythlore |date=15 December 1989 |volume=16 |issue=2 |page=Article 19 |url=https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol16/iss2/19}}</ref> Bilbo compares himself to a rabbit when he is with the [[Eagle (Middle-earth)|eagle]] that carries him; the eagle, too, tells Bilbo not to be "frightened like a rabbit".{{sfn|Shippey|2005|pp=76-78}} The giant bear-man [[Beorn]] teases Bilbo and jokes that "little bunny is getting nice and fat again", while the dwarf [[Thorin Oakenshield|Thorin]] shakes Bilbo "like a rabbit".{{sfn|Shippey|2005|pp=76-78}}

Shippey writes that rabbit is not a native English species, but was deliberately introduced in the 13th century, and has become accepted as a local wild animal. Shippey compares this "situation of [[anachronism]]-cum-familiarity" with the lifestyle of the hobbit, giving the example of smoking "pipeweed". He argues that Tolkien did not want to write "[[tobacco]]", as it did not arrive until the 16th century, so Tolkien invented a [[calque]] made of English words.{{sfn|Shippey|2005|pp=76-78}} Donald O'Brien notes, too, that [[Aragorn]]'s description of [[Frodo Baggins|Frodo]]'s priceless ''[[mithril]]'' [[Chain mail|mail]]-shirt, "here's a pretty hobbit-skin to wrap an [[Elf (Middle-earth)|elven]]-princeling in", is a "curious echo"<ref name="O'Brien 1989" /> of the English [[nursery rhyme]] "[[Bye, baby Bunting|To find a pretty rabbit-skin to wrap the baby bunting in]]."<ref name="O'Brien 1989" />

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto;"
|+ [[Tom Shippey]]'s analysis of the parallels between "Hobbit" and "Rabbit"{{sfn|Shippey|2005|pp=76-78}}
|-
! Feature !! "Hobbit" !! "[[Rabbit]]"
|-
| [[Neologism]] || Tolkien, 1937 || 1398 ([[Oxford English Dictionary|OED]])
|-
| [[Etymology]] || Doubtful, see text || Unknown before [[Middle English]]
|-
| Familiar<br />[[Anachronism]] || Smokes "pipeweed", but <br />[[tobacco]] did not arrive<br /> until 16th century || Introduced species<br />but accepted as native
|-
| Appearance || Small, plump || (and also edible)
|-
| Name || Called "rabbit" by Bert the [[Troll (Middle-earth)|troll]], [[Eagle (Middle-earth)|eagle]];<br />called "little bunny" by [[Beorn]] || (both are common names)
|}

== Evidence of earlier use ==

The only source known today that makes reference to hobbits in any sort of historical context is the ''[[Denham Tracts]]'' by [[Michael Denham]].  More specifically, it appears in James Hardy's edition (London: Folklore Society, 1895), vol. 2, the second part of a two-volume set compiled from Denham's publications between 1846 and 1859. The text contains a long list of [[Sprite (folklore)|sprites]] and [[Bogeyman|bogies]], based on an older list, the ''[[Discovery of Witchcraft]]'', dated 1584, with many additions and a few repetitions. <!--Some believe this may have been the "fairy tale" that the ''Habit'' had referred to in the 1938 letter.-->
The term ''hobbit'' is listed in the context of  "boggleboes, bogies, redmen, portunes, grants, hobbits, hobgoblins, brown-men, cowies, dunnies".<ref>Denham, Michael (auth.) and Hardy, James (ed.) (1895). [https://archive.org/stream/denhamtractscoll02denhuoft#page/78/mode/2up/search/hobbits ''Denham Tracts (Vol. 2)'']. London: David Nutt for [[The Folklore Society]]. p. 79.</ref>

The Tolkien researcher Mark T. Hooker catalogues a number of words with a silhouette similar to ''hobbit'', including:
{|class="wikitable"
! Word !! Meaning
|-
| hobit || a type of artillery piece; ''[[howitzer]]'' is a related word
|-
| {{lang|osx|hōbid}} || [[Old Saxon]] for "head"
|-
| {{lang|cy|hobaid}} || (anglicised ''[[Hobbit (unit)|hobbit]]'') an Old Welsh measure of grain
|-
| hobet || variant of ''hobby'', a small falcon species, ''[[Eurasian hobby|Falco subbuteo]]''
|-
| habit || In the Welsh fable {{lang|cy|Hanner Dyn}}, the title character's name means "half man"; the character is a personification of the force of habit
|-
| Hobith || The name of one of the "home gods" in ''[[The Gods of Pegāna]]'' by [[Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany|Lord Dunsany]]
|}
Hooker fails to find any of them "an unambiguous source for the Hobbits of Middle-earth".<ref>{{cite book|author-first=Mark T. |author-last=Hooker |publisher=Llyfrawr |year=2014 |title=The Tolkienaeum |pages= 55–74}}</ref>

In the ''December 2003 Oxford English Dictionary newsletter'', the following appears:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oed.com/newsletters/2003-12/wordsofchoice.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517014254/http://oed.com/newsletters/2003-12/wordsofchoice.html |archive-date=17 May 2008 |access-date=21 June 2012 |title=Words of choice: a selection of words with unusual origins |work=Oxford English Dictionary December 2003 newsletter |first=John |last=Simpson |author-link=John Simpson (lexicographer) |date=December 2003}}</ref>

<blockquote>"4. hobbit — J. R. R. Tolkien modestly claimed not to have coined this word, although the Supplement to the OED credited him with the invention of it in the absence of further evidence. It seems, however, that Tolkien was right to be cautious. It has since turned up in one of those 19th-century folklore journals, in a list of long-forgotten words for fairy-folk or little people. It seems likely that Tolkien, with his interest in folklore, read this and subconsciously registered the name, reviving it many years later in his most famous character. [Editor's note: although revision of the OED's entry for hobbit will of course take this evidence for earlier use into account, it does not yet appear in the online version of the entry.]"</blockquote>

As of 2024 the entry had "not yet been fully revised" in the OED Online.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hobbit |website=Oxford English Dictionary |url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/87449  |access-date=10 February 2024}}</ref>

== Proprietary status ==

In 1968 [[United Artists]] acquired film and related merchandising rights to ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. [[Saul Zaentz]] bought the merchandising rights in 1976,  vested in the Saul Zaentz Company (SZC; [[trade name]] "[[Middle-earth Enterprises]]", formerly "Tolkien Enterprises").<ref>{{cite news|last1=Dotinga|first1=William|title=Tolkiens Aghast at Warner Bros.' Exploitation|url=https://www.courthousenews.com/tolkiens-aghast-at-warner-bros-exploitation/|access-date=November 6, 2017|work=Courthouse News|date=November 26, 2012}}</ref> SZC registered [[trademark]]s in various product categories for names related to elements of the novels.<ref name="Gutierrez" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Search for hobbit + zaentz |url=https://trademarks.justia.com/search?q=hobbit+zaentz |website=Trademarks |publisher=Justia |access-date=17 April 2019}}</ref>

The [[role-playing game]] ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' has humanoid races approximating [[Middle-earth peoples|Tolkien's]]. The [[halfling (Dungeons & Dragons)|halfling race]] was called "hobbit" until it was changed after a 1977 lawsuit by Tolkien Enterprises in the run-up to the release of the animated film ''[[The Lord of the Rings (1978 film)|The Lord of the Rings]]''.<ref name="dnd1977">{{cite book |last1=Laycock |first1=Joseph |title=Dangerous Games: What the Moral Panic Over Role-Playing Games Says about Play, Religion, and Imagined Worlds |date=2015 |publisher=Univ of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-28491-3 |page=47 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xo8kDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA47 |access-date=24 April 2019 }}; {{cite book |last1=Ewalt |first1=David M. |title=Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and The People Who Play It |date=2014 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-4516-4051-9 |pages=140–141 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AJJqBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA140 |access-date=24 April 2019 }}; {{cite book |last1=Konzack |first1=Lars |editor1-last=Wolf |editor1-first=Mark J.P. |chapter=The Subcreation of J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth and How It Became Transmedial Culture |pages=69–82: 75 |doi=10.4324/9781315673363 |isbn=978-1-315-67336-3 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MTQlDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA75 |title=Revisiting Imaginary Worlds A Subcreation Studies Anthology|date=8 December 2016 }}</ref> For the same reason, Dungeons & Dragons "[[ent]]s" were renamed [[treant]]s; on the other hand [[elf (Dungeons & Dragons)|elf]], orc, and [[dwarf (Dungeons & Dragons)|dwarf]] races were not renamed.<ref name="dnd1977" /> Although the word ''[[halfling]]'' is used in ''The Lord of the Rings'' as an [[exonym]] of ''hobbit'', it is not proprietary to Tolkien and an earlier published citation in the ''OED'' is from  ''[[The Sword of Rhiannon]]''.<ref name="oed-halfling">{{cite OED |term=halfling, n. and adj. |id=83473 |edition=3rd |date=December 2022}}</ref> Later fantasy works  also used ''halfling'' in a similar sense.<ref name="oed-halfling"/>

In 2008 SZC won a [[World Intellectual Property Organization]] case against a [[cybersquatter]] for control of the [[domain name]] {{code|hobbits.com}} and [[typosquatting|typosquat]] {{code|hobbitts.com}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=Case No. D2008-0021: The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Tolkien Enterprises v. CheapYellowPages.com / Brian Wick |url=https://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/decisions/html/2008/d2008-0021.html |website=Domain Name Decisions |publisher=WIPO |access-date=24 April 2019 |date=17 March 2008}}</ref>

In 2012 [[Warner Bros.]] released ''[[The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey]]'' in association with SZC.  To coincide with the release, a New Zealand scientist planned a public lecture on ''[[Homo floresiensis]]'',<ref name="Flood2012" /> an extinct human-like species discovered in 2003 and unofficially nicknamed "the hobbit" after its 2004 publication, because of its small stature.<ref name=Aiello>{{Cite journal|doi=10.1002/ajpa.21255 |last1=Aiello |first1=Leslie C. |title=Five years of ''Homo floresiensis'' |journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology |pages=167–179 |volume=142 |year=2010 |pmid=20229502 |issue=2}}</ref> SZC refused permission to use the word "hobbit" in publicising the lecture.<ref name="Flood2012">{{cite news |last1=Flood |first1=Alison |title=Hobbit banned as title of lecture on prehistoric 'hobbit' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/oct/30/hobbit-banned-prehistoric-hobbit |access-date=17 April 2019 |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=30 October 2012}}</ref> The same year, [[The Asylum]] tried to release a [[mockbuster]] film with the title ''Age of the Hobbits''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-age-hobbits-blocked-20121210,0,6595906.story|title='Hobbit' knockoff release blocked by judge|last=Fritz|first=Ben|date=10 December 2012|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=11 December 2012}}</ref> SZC and Warner sued, alleging Asylum's title was [[confusing similarity|confusingly similar]] and violated its trademarks on the word "hobbit". Asylum claimed that its film was about ''Homo floresiensis'', "uniformly referred to as 'Hobbits' in the scientific community", and also cited the word ''hobbit'''s appearance in the ''[[Denham Tracts]]''.<ref>{{cite news |title=Hobbit producers sue 'mockbuster' |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-20252820 |access-date=16 April 2019 |work=BBC |date=8 November 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Johnson |first1=Ted  |title='Hobbit' lawsuits mire Shire waters |url=https://variety.com/2013/film/news/hobbit-lawsuits-mire-shire-waters-1118065378/ |access-date=17 April 2019 |work=Variety |date=30 January 2013 |language=en}}</ref> The [[U.S. District Court]] said Asylum's evidence did not invalidate the [[trademark distinctiveness|trademark's distinctiveness]] and granted an injunction;<ref name="Gutierrez">{{cite web |last1=Gutierrez |first1=Philip S. |title=Warner Brothers Entertainment, et al. v. The Global Asylum, Inc |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/sites/default/files/custom/Documents/ESQ/CHICAGO-%232172875-v1%20-%20%28COPY%29%201.29.13%20Civil%20Minutes.PDF |publisher=Hollywood Reporter}}</ref> Asylum's film was eventually released as ''[[Clash of the Empires]]''.

Businesses to which SZC has sent [[cease-and-desist]] letters include the Hobbit Grille restaurant in [[Bonita Springs, Florida]] in 2007;<ref>{{cite news |last1=Rubin |first1=Jonna |title=Local restaurant prepares for fight |url=http://archive.naplesnews.com/community/local-restaurant-prepares-for-fight-ep-404223839-332028082.html/ |access-date=17 April 2019 |work=Naples News |date=20 June 2007 |language=en}}</ref> The Hungry Hobbit café in Birmingham in 2011;<ref>{{cite news |title=Hobbit cafe told to change name |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-birmingham-15825960 |access-date=17 April 2019 |work=BBC |date=21 November 2011}}</ref> a Scottish manufacturer of cylindrical timber lodges called "hobbit houses" in 2011;<ref>{{cite news |last1=Devine |first1=Amy |title=Movie bosses force Scots company to remove 'hobbit' name from lodges |url=https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/movie-bosses-force-scots-company-1086480 |access-date=17 April 2019 |work=Daily Record |date=10 November 2011}}</ref> [[The Hobbit (pub)|The Hobbit pub]] in Southampton in 2012;<ref name="bbc17433036">{{cite news |title=Fry and McKellen save Hobbit pub |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hampshire-17433036 |access-date=17 April 2019 |work=BBC |date=21 March 2012}}</ref> and an English wine importer called Giraffe and Hobbit in 2016.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Clarke-Billings |first1=Lucy |title=Middle-earth Enterprises and Surrey couple locked in trademark dispute over use of 'hobbit' in company name |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/12168885/Middle-earth-Enterprises-and-Surrey-couple-locked-in-trademark-dispute-over-use-of-hobbit-in-company-name.html |access-date=17 April 2019 |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=22 February 2016 |location=London}}</ref> SZC offered a cheap copyright licence to the pub in response to online criticism of perceived excessive litigiousness.<ref name="bbc17433036" /> Hobbit Travel of Minnesota won a 2008 case against SZC on the ground of [[Laches (equity)|laches]] (unreasonable delay) as it had used the word "hobbit" in its name since 1976.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gile |first1=Ryan |title=Hobbit Travel Successfully Asserts Laches Defense Against Tolkien Enterprises's Trademark Infringement Lawsuit |url=http://www.vegastrademarkattorney.com/2008/08/hobbit-travel-successfully-asserts.html |access-date=17 April 2019 |date=1 August 2008}}; {{cite web |title=SAUL ZAENTZ COMPANY v. Wozniak Travel, Inc., 627 F. Supp. 2d 1096 |url=https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2285701/saul-zaentz-company-v-wozniak-travel-inc/ |website=CourtListener |access-date=17 April 2019 |language=en-us}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{portal|Children's literature}}

* "[[Guide to the Names in The Lord of the Rings]]"
* [[Hobbit (unit)]], a unit of weight or volume formerly used in Wales

== References ==

{{reflist}}

== Sources ==

* {{ME-ref|ROAD}}

== Further reading ==

* {{cite book |last1=Gilliver |first1=Peter |last2=Marshall |first2=Jeremy |last3=Weiner |first3=Edmund |title=The Ring of Words: Tolkien and the Oxford English Dictionary |date=2006 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-861069-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/ringofwordstolki00gill/page/142 |ref=none }}
* {{cite journal |last=Burns |first=Marjorie |author-link=Marjorie Burns |title=Tracking the Elusive Hobbit (In Its Pre-Shire Den) |journal=[[Tolkien Studies]] |volume=4 |year=2007 |pages=200–211 |doi=10.1353/tks.2007.0006 |s2cid=170413673 |ref=none }}
* {{ME-ref|Letters |#25, #316, #319 |ref=none }}
* {{cite journal |last=O'Brien |first=Donald |title=On the Origin of the Name 'Hobbit' |journal=[[Mythlore]] |volume=16 |issue=2 |date=Winter 1989 |pages=32–38 |ref=none }}

== External links ==
{{Wiktionary|hobbit}}

{{Hobbit}}

[[Category:Etymologies]]
[[Category:The Hobbit]]
[[Category:English words]]
[[Category:1937 neologisms]]