Appendicle

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. This term signifies a minor addition or attachment that serves to enhance or complement a main element
2. A lesser component or accessory that supplements the primary structure or item is referred to by this term
3. This word indicates a smaller adjunct or appendage that provides additional functionality or detail to a larger entity

Etymology: "Appendicle" is a diminutive of "appendix," which is itself from Latin "appendere," meaning "to hang upon" or "to weigh out" (from "ad," "to," plus "pendere," "to hang"). The Latin "appendicula" thus means a little hanging-on thing: a small addition suspended from something larger, the same image that gave us "pendant" and "pendulum." The English word keeps that picture of a minor part dangling from a main body. Because "appendix" in English came to mean a supplementary section added to the end of a book, and later the small worm-like pouch attached to the intestine, "appendicle" sits naturally beside them as the smaller, subordinate version. Its use is largely technical or literary, reserved for an attached part that is clearly secondary to the thing it hangs from.

Synonyms: appendix, supplement, attachment, addition, extra