English Explanatory Dictionary

-le

English dictionary entry

Meanings

suffix
  1. A frequentative suffix of verbs, indicating repetition or continuousness
suffix
  1. Forming adjectives from verbs with the meaning of "prone to", "tending to", "apt to", "capable of"; compare -ative
suffix
  1. Forming diminutives from other nouns.
  2. Forming agent nouns from verbs

Pronunciation

/əl/ /l̩/

Word forms

-le -el

Etymology

From Middle English -elen, -len, -lien, from Old English -lian (frequentative verbal suffix), from Proto-West Germanic *-lōn, from Proto-Germanic *-lōną (frequentative verbal suffix). Cognate with West Frisian -elje, Dutch -elen, German -eln, Danish -le, Norwegian Bokmål -le, Norwegian Nynorsk -la, Swedish -la, Icelandic -la. Compare -er.

Synonyms

-cule -ee -el -et -ette -icle -ie -kin -let -ling -ole -ule -y mini- micro- nano-

Derived words

dottle piffle
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on - Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary