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-le

suffix — 4 senses

-le

suffix

/əl/ · /l̩/

Etymology From Middle English -len, -elen, from Old English -lian (frequentative verbal suffix), from Proto-West Germanic *-lōn, from Proto-Germanic *-lōną (frequentative verbal suffix). Cognate with West Frisian -elje, Dutch -elen, German -eln, Danish -le, Norwegian Bokmål -le, Norwegian Nynorsk -la, Swedish -la, Icelandic -la. Compare -er.

1

Morpheme A frequentative suffix of verbs, indicating repetition or continuousness

  • assle, buzzle, crackle, cuddle, dazzle, draggle, drawl, dribble, drizzle, fumble, gamble, grapple, handle, jostle, kissle, maddle, mingle, nestle, nuzzle, prattle, quibble, ramble, rattle, ripple, scribble, sile, sizzle, sniffle, snuggle, startle, stopple, suckle, tattle, tickle, topple, waggle, whemmle, wiggle, wrestle

-le

suffix

Etymology From Middle English -el, -le (adjectival), from Old English -el, -ol, from Proto-Germanic *-ulaz and *-ilaz (adjective suffixes). Cognate with West Frisian -el, Dutch -el, Low German -el, German -el, Icelandic -ill.

1

Morpheme Forming adjectives from verbs with the meaning of "prone to", "tending to", "apt to", "capable of"; compare -ative

  • battle, breakle, brittle, fickle, forgettle, little, newfangle, nimble, wankle

-le

suffix

Etymology From Middle English -el (agent suffix), from a combination of two suffixes: * Old English -el, -il (diminutive suffix), from Proto-Germanic *-ilaz (diminutive suffix). * Old English -el, -ol, -ul (agent suffix), from Proto-Germanic *-ilaz (agent suffix). Cognate with West Frisian -el, Dutch -el, Low German -el, German -el.

1

Morpheme Forming diminutives from other nouns.

  • dump + -le → dimple
  • dung + -le → dingle
4 more examples
  • hatch + -le → hatchel
  • hose + -le → hosel
  • howf + -le → hovel
  • gome + -le → gomeral
2

Morpheme Forming agent nouns from verbs

  • beadle, beetle, bridle, bundle, cripple, fettle, girdle, ladle, losel, runnel, shovel, spindle, spittle, steeple, stile, stopple, thimble, tool, towel, trundle
Derived terms
dottle, piffle, Terms unsorted by etymology:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.