-lus

See also: lus, lús, lûs, and luš

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *-lós. Cognate with Faliscan -𐌄𐌋𐌏𐌔 (-elos)). See also the Proto-Germanic suffix *-(ku)laz, as seen in the etymology at ickle.

Pronunciation

Suffix

-lus m (feminine -la, neuter -lum); first/second declension

  1. Used to form a diminutive of a noun, indicating small size or youth and thus sometimes depreciation.

Usage notes

The suffix -lus is added to a noun to form a diminutive of that noun.

Examples:
porcus (“pig”) + ‎-lus → ‎porculus (“little pig”)
On nouns ending in -ius/-eus or -ia/-ea:
filius (“son”) + ‎-lus → ‎filiolus (“little son”)
gladius (“sword”) + ‎-lus → ‎gladiolus (“little sword”)
bestia (“beast”) + ‎-lus → ‎bestiola (“little beast”)
acūleus (“needle”) + ‎-lus → ‎acūleolus (“little needle”)
On nouns ending in -vus or -va:
parvus (“small, little”) + ‎-lus → ‎parvulus (“very small, very little”) or parvolus
servus (“servant”) + ‎-lus → ‎servulus (“little or young servant”) or servolus

Inflection

First/second declension.

Number Singular Plural
Case / Gender Masculine Feminine Neuter Masculine Feminine Neuter
nominative -lus -la -lum -lī -lae -la
genitive -lī -lae -lī -lōrum -lārum -lōrum
dative -lō -lō -līs
accusative -lum -lam -lum -lōs -lās -la
ablative -lō -lā -lō -līs
vocative -le -la -lum -lī -lae -la

Derived terms

► <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs14 CategoryTreeLabelCategory' href='/wiki/Category:Latin_words_suffixed_with_-lus'>Latin words suffixed with -lus</a>
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.