The -let Ending Makes Things Small
A piglet is a young pig. The ending is one of English's few surviving ways of making a diminutive.
A piglet is a young pig. The *-let* ending is one of English's few productive diminutives: *booklet*, *droplet*, *leaflet*, *starlet*, *ringlet*. English is unusual among European languages in having so few — German and Italian make diminutives freely, while English mostly reaches for the word *little*.
- A young pig. *A litter of piglets.*
- Pig — the adult animal. *A domestic pig.*
- Sow and boar — female and male. *A breeding sow.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | piglet | A newborn piglet. |
| Plural | piglets | Eight piglets. |
| Adult female | sow | A breeding sow. |
| Adult male | boar | A wild boar. |
| Group | litter | A litter of piglets. |
How it is used in a sentence
- A sow may have a dozen piglets.Farming.
- Pigs are among the most intelligent farm animals.Comparable to dogs in some tests.
- Pigs cannot sweat much.Which is why they wallow.
English diminutive endings
- -let — piglet, booklet, droplet
- -ling — duckling, gosling, sapling
- -ie or -y — doggie, birdie, auntie
- -ette — kitchenette, cigarette
- Comparison — English has far fewer than German or Italian
From *pig*, of uncertain origin, plus the diminutive *-let*, from Old French *-el* combined with *-et*.
Do pigs sweat?
Barely. They have very few functional sweat glands, which is why they wallow in mud to cool down.
Where does *pig* come from?
Its origin is uncertain. Old English had *picg*, but its earlier ancestry has never been established.