rivulet

American  

[riv-yuh-lit] / ˈrɪv yə lɪt /

noun

1. a small stream; streamlet; brook.

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rivulet British  

/ ˈrɪvjʊlɪt /

noun

1. a small stream

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Etymology

Origin of rivulet

1580–90; earlier rivolet < Italian rivoletto, diminutive of rivolo < Latin rīvulus small stream

Explanation

A rivulet is a small stream. A rivulet is to a river as a baby is to an adult. There are several ways to remember this word. One is the similarity of its sound to "river." Another is the suffix -let, which indicates small things. For example, a piglet is a small pig or baby pig. A 300-pound pig probably wouldn't drown in a tiny rivulet, but a piglet should stay clear. Another word for rivulet is streamlet.

Example Sentences

Rivulet back when MacAdams began writing the most important poem in the city’s history.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 11, 2023

Oscar Shafer, the chairman of Rivulet Capital, recommended Hertz, citing the consolidation in the rental car company.

From New York Times • May 10, 2013

In 1856 Mr. Lynch published a volume of religious poems called the Rivulet, some of them for private perusal, some for public worship. 

From The London Pulpit by Ritchie, J. Ewing (James Ewing)

There runs a pretty Rivulet by this Town.

From A New Voyage to Carolina, containing the exact description and natural history of that country; together with the present state thereof; and a journal of a thousand miles, travel'd thro' several nations of Indians; giving a particular account of their customs, manners, etc. by Lawson, John

Lynch, a Congregationalist, who, in 1853, had expressed neologian views in The Rivulet, a book of poems.

From Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama A Revised American Edition of the Reader's Handbook, Vol. 3 by Brewer, Ebenezer Cobham