-cle
1a suffix found in French loanwords of Latin origin, originally diminutive nouns, and later in adaptations of words borrowed directly from Latin or in Neo-Latin coinages: article; conventicle; corpuscle; particle.
Content related to -cle
English Affixes From A To Z: A One-Stop List Of Suffixes, Prefixes, and Combining FormsIn English, we love to make new words by adding all sorts of bits to the front and back of existing terms. These are called affixes, and they are added to the base or stem of a word. When attached to the end of word, the affix is called a suffix. And to the beginning? A prefix.
Words nearby -cle
Origin of -cle
1< French, Old French < Latin -culus, -cula, -culum, variant of -ulus -ule with nouns of the 3rd, 4th and 5th declensions, usually with the same gender as the base noun
Definition for -cle (2 of 2)
-cle2
a suffix found in French loanwords of Latin origin, later in adaptations of words borrowed directly from Latin; in Latin, this suffix formed from verbs nouns that denoted a place appropriate to the action of the verb (cubicle, receptacle) or a means by which the action is performed (vehicle).
Origin of -cle
2< French, Old French < Latin -culum, -cula < *-tlom, *-tlā
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
British Dictionary definitions for -cle
-cle
suffix forming nouns
indicating smallnesscubicle; particle
Word Origin for -cle
via Old French from Latin -culus. See -cule
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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