-cule

¹

1. variant of -cle ¹:

   animalcule; molecule; reticule.

-cule

²

1. variant of -cle ²:

   ridicule.

-cule

suffix forming nouns

1. indicating smallness

   animalcule

Word History and Origins

Origin of -cule¹

From French, from Latin -culus, -cula, -culum; -cle ¹

Origin of -cule²

From French, from Latin -culum, -cula; -cle ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of -cule¹

from Latin -culus, diminutive suffix; compare -cle

Example Sentences

Xavi is a 'Cule' to the bone, a man who bleeds Barcelona, and it breaks his heart to hear his own children tell him at their school they are saying he is not a good coach.

From BBC

The talk, absurd at inception, had been that here was an anti-Madridista, a culé who resented Real and everything they represented, but look at his team in Wales last week – no Barcelona player in it – and look at his squad, packed with players from the Bernabéu.

From The Guardian

In theory, the problem hinges on whether you understand the word to be minus plus the diminutive suffix cule, as in molecule, or mini attached to scule – meaning who knows quite what.

From The Guardian

As time went by, we got regular actors involved, like Paul Valentine, who played the jester Motley, and Michael Cule, who played the monk, Brother Mace.

From The Guardian

A number of the nucleotides in a transfer-RNA molecule are modified, that is, their structure is altered chemically after they have been incorporated into the mole­cule; most often a methyl group is add­ed to the nucleotide at some position on either the base or the sugar.

From Scientific American

Words That Use -cule

What does -cule mean?

The suffix -cule 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 -cule is occasionally used in a variety of everyday and technical terms. The suffix -cule 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. This form of -cule is used very rarely in everyday and technical terms. The suffix -cule comes from Latin -cula and -culum by way of French or Old French.

What are variants of -cule?

A variant of -cule in both senses of the suffix is -cle, as in article or vehicle. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use article on -cle.

Examples of -cule with the sense "diminutive noun"

A word you may be familiar with that features the suffix -cule is molecule, “the smallest physical unit of an element or compound.”

The mole- part of the word means “mass,” from Latin mōlē(s). The suffix -cule here means “small.” Molecule literally translates to “small mass.”

What are some words that use the combining form -cule?

• animalcule (using the equivalent form of -cule in Latin)
• crepuscule
• lenticule
• minuscule
• reticule

What are some other forms that -cule may be commonly confused with?

• -cele
• -coel
• -ule

Break it down!

Given the meaning of the suffix -cule, what does animalcule literally mean?