![]() illus, -illi: This Latin form is rare, confined in usage to bacillus/bacilli and lapillus/lapilli.Ģ2. illa, -illo: This Spanish diminutive appears in such words as vanilla and cigarillo.Ģ0-21. il: Words ending in -il, such as codicil and pencil, came to English from Latin through French.ġ8-19. ie: Words with this suffix are from English (as in doggie), Scottish (for example, laddie), or Dutch (such as cookie), or are diminutives of personal names, as in Charlie.ġ7. etto, -etti: The singular and plural Italian equivalents of -et are evident in borrowings from that language such as amaretto and spaghetti.ġ6. The feminine form of -et, more common in English than the masculine form, is seen in words such as cigarette and kitchenette.ġ4-15. et, -ette: The masculine form of this French diminutive appears in such ubiquitous words as faucet and wallet. ster: This diminutive refers to a person who does or is what the root word indicates: gangster (and bankster, the recently coined sardonic extension in reaction to the perceived criminality of large banks), youngster.ġ2-13. ers: This diminutive does not literally suggest a reduction in size it’s employed in coining slang such as bonkers and preggers.ġ1. erel: As with -rel, words ending in -erel are sometimes pejorative, as in doggerel.ġ0. It also refers what something is made of, as in woolen.ĩ. en: This suffix denotes a small or young form, as in kitten, though chicken is a reverse example: Originally, in Old English (as cicen), the term for adults was fowl, and chicken denoted a young bird. elle: This rare suffix occurs in organelle.Ĩ. The masculine form is seen in bordello.ħ. When appended to a person’s name, -ella is often used in forming the scientific name of a species of bacteria, as in salmonella (the legacy of one D. ella, -ello: The feminine form of this Italian suffix is best known as part of Cinderella’s name among objects, novella is perhaps the most familiar usage. el: This unassuming French diminutive appears frequently in ordinary language: chapel and tunnel are only two of many examples.ĥ-6. culus: This direct borrowing from Latin is rarer than its Frenchified counterpart calculus is perhaps the best-known form, though homunculus (“little man”) is an interesting example.Ĥ. Capsule and molecule are common examples animalcule, referring to minute organisms such as bacteria, is rare in lay usage.ģ. ![]() cule: This ending, sometimes with the letter c omitted, is common in medical and scientific vocabulary. aster: This generally pejorative suffix denoting resemblance was common a couple hundred years ago but is rare today the only well-known surviving instance is poetaster, a word describing an inferior poet.Ģ. Who knew there were this many ways to alter a word to connote belittlement or affection, or merely diminishment in size? Now, you do. ![]() ![]() 50 Diminutive Suffixes (and a Cute Little Prefix) By Mark Nichol ![]()
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