Where does “-el” come from?

-el (Middle Low German) comes from Old Saxon -il, from Proto-Germanic -ilaz, from Proto-Indo-European -lós — Forms agent nouns from verbal roots.

Ancestry of “-el”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Saxon-il—
2Proto-Germanic-ilazagent suffix; diminutive suffix
3Proto-Indo-European-lósForms agent nouns from verbal roots

Words derived from “-el”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European -lós →Every word from Proto-Germanic -ilaz →Every word from Old Saxon -il →