-cle

¹ American  

1. 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: conventicle; particle.

   article;

   conventicle;

   corpuscle;

   particle.

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-cle ² American  

1. 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 ).

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-cle British  

suffix

1. indicating smallness

   cubicle

   particle

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Usage

What does -cle mean? The suffix -cle has two distinct senses.The first of these senses is to denote a diminutive noun, meaning to indicate something small in size or importance. It is also used in other French loanwords from Latin. This form of -cle is occasionally used in a variety of everyday and technical terms. The suffix -cle comes from the Latin endings -culus (masculine), -cula (feminine), and -culum (neuter), which originally designated diminutive nouns.The second of these senses is in words borrowed from Latin where it formed verb nouns that denoted a place appropriate to the action of the verb or means by which the action is performed. The suffix -cle comes from Latin -cula and -culum by way of French or Old French.What are variants of -cle?A variant of -cle in both senses of the suffix is -cule, as in molecule or ridicule. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use article on -cule.

Etymology

Origin of -cle¹

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

Origin of -cle¹

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

Example Sentences

The population peaked at 4,000 people by 1910 as Cle Elum, Ronald and Roslyn sprouted among the expansive coal beds.

From Seattle Times

“People have discovered Roslyn, and it is getting loved to death,” says Fred Krueger, a retired Cle Elum-Roslyn social studies teacher whose photographs and recordings of old-timers are housed in the Central Washington University Archives & Special Collections.

From Seattle Times

They opened the Cle Elum Bakery in 1906 to make bread in a wood-fired brick oven.

From Seattle Times

Other areas identified for prescribed burns this spring include about 540 acres around Tonasket and 140 acres near Loomis in Okanogan County; nearly 200 acres near Cle Elum, Kittitas County, and more than 1,000 near Glenwood in Klickitat County.

From Seattle Times

So they gutted the room and splurged on a sleek and sexy black ceramic Italian sink by Scarabeo, more off-black Clé tile in the shower, and whimsical black-and-white-patterned cement tile flooring.

From Los Angeles Times