Morpheme
-eau
Type
suffix
Denotation
French diminutive, collective, and abstract noun suffix
Etymology
French -eau; Old French -el; Latin -ellus, from rebracketing of diminutives (e.g. libellus from liber + -lus, fēmella from fēmina + -la) and diminutives of diminutives (porcellus from porculus + -lus), variant of -ulus
Evidence
bateau, bureau, chalumeau, chapeau, chateau, corbeau, coteau, flambeau, morceau, nouveau, plateau, tableau, -eaux
See Also
-ac(u)le [-acule, -acle], -cula, -culae, -culum, -cula, -culus, -culi, -cello, -celli, -cel(l) [-cel, -cell], -ouche, -ula, -ula, -ulae, -(u)le [-ule, -le], -ulum, -ulus, -uli, -ulo
