English

-e-

A linking vowel inserted between two morphemes, to ease pronunciation, without contributing to the meaning.

    Etymology graph

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    Origin

    Etymology 1

    Borrowed from Latin -e-.

    Etymology 2

    The final vowel of hamster, as the initial vowel would be a homonym of -a- from rat.

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • borrowedLatin-e-
    • derivedEnglishrat “Any of the numerous members of several rodent families that usually have short limbs, a pointy snou…”
      • inheritedMiddle Englishraat
        • inheritedOld Englishræt
        • derivedProto-Indo-European*Hreh₃d- “to gnaw, scrape, scratch”
      • inheritedMiddle Englishratten
      • derivedEnglishremote-access

    Sources