-cle

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a suffix found in French loanwords of Latin origin, originally diminutive nouns, and later in adaptations of words borrowed directly from Latin or in New Latin coinages: article;conventicle;corpuscle;particle.

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Origin of -cle

From French, Old French, from 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

Words nearby -cle

Clayton Antitrust Act, Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, claytonia, CLC, cld., -cle, Clea, clean, cleanability, clean and jerk, clean as a whistle

Other definitions 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

<French, Old French <Latin -culum, -cula<*-tlom,*-tlā

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use -cle in a sentence

CLE Why has not my heart sufficient resolution to punish this infamous scoundrel?
Amphitryon|Moliere
Cle-Syria was, like the north of Mesopotamia, in repute for its cattle.
History of Julius Caesar Vol. 1 of 2|Napoleon III, Emperor of the French, 1808-1873.
"Ez clean an' ez cle'r ez the pa'm er my han'," replied Uncle Jake, with emphasis.
Mingo|Joel Chandler Harris
Trea′cle-sleep, a sweet and refreshing sleep; Trea′cliness, viscosity.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements)|Various

Cle'lia or Cloe'lia, a Roman maiden, one of the hostages given to Por'sena.
Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama, Vol 1|The Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D.

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 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012