-ette

American  

1. a noun suffix occurring originally in loanwords from French, where it has been used in a variety of hypocoristic formations (brunette; cigarette; coquette; etiquette; rosette ); as an English suffix, -ette forms diminutives (kitchenette; novelette; sermonette ), distinctively feminine nouns (majorette; usherette ), and names of imitation products (leatherette ).

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-ette British  

suffix

1. small

   cigarette

   kitchenette

2. female

   majorette

   suffragette

3. (esp in trade names) imitation

   Leatherette

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Gender

English nouns in which the suffix -ette designates a feminine role or identity have been perceived by many people as implying inferiority or insignificance: bachelorette; drum majorette; farmerette; suffragette; usherette. Of these terms, only drum majorette —or sometimes just majorette —is still widely used, usually applied to one of a group of young women who perform baton twirling with a marching band. A woman or man who actually leads a band is a drum major. Baton twirler is often used instead of ( drum ) majorette. Farmer, suffragist, and usher are applied to both men and women, thus avoiding any trivializing effect of the -ette ending. See also -enne, -ess, -trix.

Etymology

Origin of -ette

From French, feminine of -et noun suffix; -et

Example Sentences

From the French -ette, as in caissette, poulette.

From A Handbook of the English Language by Latham, R. G. (Robert Gordon)