-ette

-ette
a noun suffix occurring originally in loanwords from French, where it has been used in a variety of diminutive and hypocoristic formations (brunette; cigarette; coquette; etiquette; rosette); as an English suffix, -ette forms diminutives (kitchenette; novelette; sermonette), distinctively feminine nouns (majorette; usherette), and names of imitation products (leatherette). Cf. -et.
[ < F, fem. of -et -ET]
Usage. English nouns in which the suffix -ETTE designates a feminine role or identity have been perceived by many people as implying inferiority or insignificance: bachelorette; drum majorette; farmerette; suffragette; usherette. Of these terms, only drum majorette - or sometimes just majorette - is still widely used, usually applied to one of a group of young women who perform baton twirling with a marching band. A woman or man who actually leads a band is a drum major. Baton twirler is often used instead of (drum) majorette. Farmer, suffragist, and usher are applied to both men and women, thus avoiding any trivializing effect of the -ETTE ending. See also -enne, -ess, -trix.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Ette — bezeichnet: Ette (Fluss), einen rechten Nebenfluss der Jagst. Ette ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Bernard Etté (1898 1973), deutscher Kapellmeister Ottmar Ette (* 1956), deutscher Romanist und Komparatist an der Universität Potsdam …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • -ette — dim. formation, from O.Fr. ette (fem.), used indiscriminately in Old French with masculine form 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… …   Etymology dictionary

  • -ette — is a suffix corresponding to an Old French form ette and is found in English (mostly from the 19c) in four types of noun, either as an active suffix or as part of a word adopted from French: 1. diminutive words, e.g. chemisette (= a small chemise …   Modern English usage

  • -ette — Suffix (zur Bildung von Diminutiven von Substantiven, z.B. Oper Operette) erw. bildg. ( ) Entlehnung. Wurde in französischen Wörtern ins Deutsche übernommen; der Ursprung ist frz. ette. Beschränkt produktiv, besonders in Markenbezeichnungen… …   Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen sprache

  • Ette — Ette, Nebenfluß der Jaxt in Württemberg, in welche sich die E. über Ettenhausen bei Mulfingen ergießt …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • ette — / ɛt:e/ s.m. [prob. dal lat. et e , per allusione alla brevità di questa parola], solo al sing., fam. [alcuna cosa, spec. in frasi negative: non m importa un e. ] ▶◀ (bel) niente, nonnulla, nulla. ‖ acca, accidente …   Enciclopedia Italiana

  • ette — [ et ] suffix 1. ) used with some nouns to make nouns describing something small: a kitchenette (=a small kitchen) 2. ) used with some nouns to make nouns referring to women: usherette (=a woman whose job is to show people to their seats in a… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • -ette — ► SUFFIX forming nouns: 1) denoting small size: kitchenette. 2) denoting an imitation or substitute: leatherette. 3) denoting female gender: suffragette. ORIGIN Old French …   English terms dictionary

  • -ette — [et] [Fr: see ET] suffix forming nouns 1. little [statuette ] ☆ 2. female [majorette]: as applied to persons, now often avoided as patronizing [suffragette] 3. a substitute for [leatherette] …   English World dictionary

  • ette — fan·chon·ette; farm·er·ette; fea·tur·ette; flan·nel·ette; heif·er·ette; his·to·ri·ette; kitch·en·ette; la·fay·ette; laun·der·ette; lay·ette; Leath·er·ette; lec·tur·ette; lunch·eon·ette; ma·jor·ette; mi·gnon·ette; min·ion·ette; nov·el·ette;… …   English syllables

  • Etté — Bernard Etté (* 13. September 1898 in Kassel; † 26. September 1973 in Mühldorf am Inn; bürgerlich: Bernhard Ette) war ein deutscher Kapellmeister und Violinist. Im Jahre 1923 wurde er der Kapellmeister des Boston Club Tanzorchesters, mit dem er… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”