-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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“Was” is used for the indicative past tense of “to be,” and “were” is only used for the subjunctive past tense.
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Origin of -cle
1From 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
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. 2021
Example sentences from the Web for -cle
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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