quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- -ette[-ette 词源字典]
- diminutive word-forming element, from Old French -ette (fem.), used indiscriminately in Old French with masculine form -et (see -et). As a general rule, older words borrowed from French have -et in English, while ones taken in since 17c. have -ette. In use with native words since late 19c., especially among persons who coin new product names, who tend to give it a sense of "imitation, a sort of" (for example flannelette "imitation flannel of cotton," 1876). Also in words like sermonette, which, OED remarks, "can scarcely be said to be in good use, though often met with in newspapers."[-ette etymology, -ette origin, 英语词源]