a noun suffix occurring in loanwords from French, where it originally formed diminutives, now often with a derivative sense in which the diminutive force is lost (bagatelle; prunelle; rondelle); also in Anglicized forms of Latin words ending in -ella (organelle).
Origin
< French < Latin-ella, feminine of -ellus, forming diminutives corresponding to stems ending in -ul--ule, -r- (see castellum), -n- (see patella)