Etymology Explorer › Spanish

Where does “duendecillo” come from?

duendecillo (Spanish) comes from Spanish -cillo, from Spanish -illo, from Old Spanish -iello, from Latin -ellus, from Latin -ulus, from Proto-Italic -olos, from Proto-Italic -elos, from Proto-Indo-European -e-lós — Forms agent nouns from verbal roots.

duendecillo (Spanish): pixie, sprite; leprechaun; hobgoblin, gremlin

Definitions

  1. pixie, sprite; leprechaun; hobgoblin, gremlin

Ancestry of “duendecillo”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Spanish-cilloForm of -illo attached to some nouns
2Spanish-illoAdded to masculine nouns to denote a diminutive...
3Old Spanish-ielloA diminutive suffix
4Latin-ellusAlternative form of -ulus; "forming masculine...
5Latin-ulusUsed to form a diminutive of a noun, indicating...
6Proto-Italic-olos—
7Proto-Italic-elos—
8Proto-Indo-European-e-lós—
9Proto-Indo-European-lósForms agent nouns from verbal roots
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -lós →