a suffix occurring in loanwords from Latin, originally diminutive nouns (capsule; globule; nodule) or noun derivatives of verbs (ligule).
Origin
< French < Latin-ulus, -ula, -ulum diminutive formative with nouns of the 1st and 2nd declensions ≪ *-el- (cf. -cle1, -elle, -ole1); the deverbal suffix -ulus, etc. (cf. cingulum, tumulus) is of distinct orig.
British Dictionary definitions for -ule
-ule
suffix
1.
indicating smallness: globule
Word Origin
from Latin -ulus, diminutive suffix
Word Origin and History for -ule
word-forming element meaning "small, little" (capsule, module, etc.), from French -ule, from Latin diminutive suffix -ulus (fem. -ula, neuter -ulum).