Join free

-el

English · Français · Deutsch · Română · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

-el¹

  • /əl/
  • /l̩/

Where it comes from

From Middle English -el, from Old English -el, from Proto-Germanic *-ilaz.

suffix -le · -al

  1. morpheme Suffix forming nouns, originally denoting an instrument, from verbs, usually spelt -le except after n and e. runnel, shovel, dotel
  2. morpheme Diminutive suffix in words of Germanic origin. hatchel, hovel, gomerel

    Similar: -cule, -ee, -et, -ette, -icle, -ie, -kin, -le, -let, -ling, -ole, -ule

-el²

  • /əl/
  • /l̩/

Where it comes from

From Middle English -el, a merger of two suffixes:

* Old English -el (diminutive suffix)

* Old French -el (diminutive suffix), from Latin -ellus

suffix

  1. morpheme Suffix, originally diminutive, in words of mostly Romance origin. cupel, chapel, tunnel

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"-el." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/-el. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

-el. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/-el

Chicago

"-el." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/-el.

BibTeX
@misc{el_2026,
  title = {-el},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/-el},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}