Where does “-ette” come from?
-ette (Middle French) comes from Old French -eté, from Latin -ittus, from Proto-Italic -tos, from Proto-Indo-European -tós — Creates verbal adjectives from verb stems.
-ette (Middle French): -et, -ette
Ancestry of “-ette”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old French | -eté | variant of -té |
| 2 | Latin | -ittus | diminutive suffix, used to create nouns |
| 3 | Proto-Italic | -tos | Creates verbal adjectives from verb stems |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | -tós | Creates verbal adjectives from verb stems |
Words derived from “-ette”