-et
suff.1. Small: falconet.
2. Something worn on: labret.
[Middle English, from Old French, from Vulgar Latin *-ittum.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
-et
suffix forming nouns small or lesser: islet; baronet.
[from Old French -et, -ete]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
-et
a noun suffix occurring orig. in loanwords from French or Italian, typically diminutives or nouns denoting an example or instance of something, or a group or member of a group having a specified number (
bullet; hatchet; islet; turret; doublet; quartet); of limited productivity in English (
baronet; octet; quintuplet; swimmeret), sometimes as a variant of
-let before stems ending in syllabic
l (
eaglet; owlet).Compare
-ette. [Middle English < Old French -et (masculine) or -ette (feminine); or < Italian -etto,-etta]
ET
or E.T.,
Eastern time.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.