Etymology

-le

Today it means: A frequentative suffix of verbs, indicating repetition or continuousness Full definition →

Middle English -len ← Old English -lian ← Proto-West Germanic *-lōn
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-le · suffix1

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*-lōną
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*-lōn
  3. Old English · inherited from-lian
  4. Middle English · inherited from-len
  5. English today-le

From Middle English -len, -elen, from Old English -lian (frequentative verbal suffix), from Proto-West Germanic *-lōn, from Proto-Germanic *-lōną (frequentative verbal suffix). Cognate with West Frisian -elje, Dutch -elen, German -eln, Danish -le, Norwegian Bokmål -le, Norwegian Nynorsk -la, Swedish -la, Icelandic -la. Compare -er.

-le · suffix2

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*-ulaz
  2. Old English · inherited from-el
  3. Middle English · inherited from-el
  4. English today-le

From Middle English -el, -le (adjectival), from Old English -el, -ol, from Proto-Germanic *-ulaz and *-ilaz (adjective suffixes). Cognate with West Frisian -el, Dutch -el, Low German -el, German -el, Icelandic -ill.

-le · suffix3

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*-ilaz
  2. Old English · inherited from-el
  3. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*-ilaz
  4. Old English · inherited from-el
  5. Middle English · inherited from-el
  6. English today-le

From Middle English -el (agent suffix), from a combination of two suffixes: * Old English -el, -il (diminutive suffix), from Proto-Germanic *-ilaz (diminutive suffix). * Old English -el, -ol, -ul (agent suffix), from Proto-Germanic *-ilaz (agent suffix). Cognate with West Frisian -el, Dutch -el, Low German -el, German -el.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.