-le

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
-le1

▶suffix

• 1 forming names of appliances or instruments: bridle.

• 2 forming names of animals and plants: beetle.

– origin OE, of Gmc origin.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
-le2 (also -el)

▶suffix forming nouns having or originally having a diminutive sense: mantle.

– origin ME -el, -elle, partly from OE and partly from OFr. (based on L. forms).

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
-le3

▶suffix (forming adjectives from an original verb) apt to; liable to: brittle.

– origin ME: from earlier -el, of Gmc origin.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
-le4

▶suffix forming verbs, chiefly expressing repeated action or movement (as in babble, dazzle), or having diminutive sense (as in nestle).

– origin OE -lian, of Gmc origin.