Forming diminutives from nouns, represents Old French -et masculine, -ete (modern French -ette) feminine, corresponding to Provençal -et, -eta, Spanish -ito, -ita (also -ete, -eta in adopted words), Italian -etto, -etta:—Common Romanic -itto, -itta, of unknown (? non-Latin) origin. In English the suffix occurs chiefly in French words adopted into Middle English, as basnet, bullet, crotchet, fillet, gullet, hatchet, mallet, pocket, pullet, sonnet, tablet, turret, etc.; most of these are now used without any consciousness of their original diminutive sense. The distinction in form between the masculine and feminine suffixes was not often observed even in Middle English; the spelling -ete however occasionally occurs for Old French -ete, as in polete pullet n.; in adoptions from modern French in 16th and 17th centuries -et represented French -ette as well as -et (e.g. in facet, islet); in more recent adoptions the latter usually remains as -ette suffix. The suffix has been little used as an English formative, though words like riveret are found in 17th century writers. Certain French diminutives formed with -et on nouns ending in -el (either diminutive or adjectival) have been adopted into English, and have given rise to the suffix -let suffix, which has been largely employed to form diminutives in English.

Forming neuter verbal and denominative nouns, represents Old English -et(t (= Gothic -iti, Old High German -izzi), as in thicket.

Representing the 3rd person singular present tense ending of Latin verbs of the second conjugation, as scilicet, tenet.