-ette

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | 510 words | Copyright

-ette suffix repr. F. -ette (OF. -ete), and forming dim. sbs., being the fem. corr. to masc. (O)F. -et (see -ET). In ME. the F. -et and -ette were not clearly distinguished, and old adoptions in -et(t)e usu. survive with -et, e.g. egret, hatchet. The sp. -ette is preserved in adoptions dating from XVII onwards, as cigarette, coquette, etiquette, gazette, rosette. In XIX it began to be extended to Eng. sbs., as waggonnette, and esp. in names of materials intended as imitations, as flannelette, leatherette.

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T. F. HOAD. "-ette." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

T. F. HOAD. "-ette." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-ette.html

T. F. HOAD. "-ette." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-ette.html

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