-le

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | 564 words | Copyright

-le3 suffix of verbs with frequent. or dim. force, repr. OE. -lian, corr. to OS., OHG. -lōn (Du., G. -len), ON. -la :- Gmc. *-lōjan; surviving words of OE. date are handle, nestle, startle, twinkle. There were many new formations in ME. and modEng., chiefly expressive of repeated action or movement, some being adopted from foreign sources, some being of native echoic or symbolic creation, e.g. bubble, chuckle, dabble, drizzle, giggle, hobble, mumble, niggle, paddle, scribble, topple, wriggle. Darkle, sidle, suckle are back-formations; cf. grovel.

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

T. F. HOAD. "-le." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-le2.html

T. F. HOAD. "-le." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-le2.html

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