-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 -cle²

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

Example Sentences

A different Latin suffix -culum, forming substantives from verbs, is represented in the form -cle in several words adopted through French, as miracle, oracle, spectacle. -um, neuter term., as medium.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various