-ello
Italian edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Suffix edit
-ello m (noun-forming suffix, plural -elli, feminine -ella)
- suffix used to form noun diminutives from nouns (including proper nouns) and sometimes adjectives and verbs, often with a meliorative or hypocoristic sense
- paese (“town, village”) + -ello → paesello (“small village”)
- asino (“donkey”) + -ello → asinello (“small donkey”)
- carro (“wagon, cart”) + -ello → carrello (“trolley, hopper, etc.”)
- teppista (“thug, hoodlum”) + -ello → teppistello (“young thug”)
- fortuna (“luck”) + -ello → fortunello (“lucky devil”)
- crusca (“bran”) + -ello → cruschello (“fine bran”)
- sfrontato (“impudent, shameless”) + -ello → sfontatello (“brat”)
- trovato (“found, discovered”) + -ello → trovatello (“foundling”)
- spogliare (“to strip”) + -ello → spogliarello (“striptease”)
- this suffix was often pluralized in the formation of Italian surnames, in this case indicating a progenitor who was either endearing, the youngest of two or more with the same name, a man of small stature, or ironically a man of very large stature
- Antonello (“dear, young or smallish Anthony”) + -ello → Antonelli (“those (descended from) the smallish or dear man named Anthony”)
- Giacovello (“dear, young or smallish Jacob”) + -ello → Giacovelli (“those descended from the young or dear man named Jacob”)
- Gianello (“dear, young or smallish John”) + -ello → Gianelli (“those descended from "little John" or a dear man named John”)
Suffix edit
-ello (adjective-forming suffix, feminine -ella, masculine plural -elli, feminine plural -elle)
- suffix used to form diminutives of adjectives, often with a meliorative or hypocoristic sense
- stupido (“stupid”) + -ello → stupidello (“silly, goofy”)
Derived terms edit
Anagrams edit
Latin edit
Suffix edit
-ellō