-elle

1. a noun suffix occurring in loanwords from French, where it originally formed diminutives, now often with a derivative sense in which the diminutive force is lost ( bagatelle; prunelle; rondelle ); also in Anglicized forms of Latin words ending in -ella ( organelle ).

Word History and Origins

Origin of -elle¹

< French < Latin -ella, feminine of -ellus, forming diminutives corresponding to stems ending in -ul- -ule, -r- ( castellum ), -n- ( patella )