Drakelets

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Young male ducks, especially those that have not yet developed the bright adult plumage of their species
2. The immature male birds of duck species, often seen before they gain their full colorful breeding feathers
3. Juvenile male waterfowl belonging to the duck family, still lacking the mature markings of adult males

Etymology: "Drakelets" is the plural of "drakelet," a word that splits into two possible histories depending on which "drake" lies behind it. In one, the first half is "drake," the male duck, and the whole thing is simply a small male duck with the diminutive suffix "-let" attached, as in "booklet" or "streamlet." In the other, the first half is "drake" in its older sense of a dragon, making the word a small dragon. That second route is the more striking one, because the dragon sense of "drake" is the older of the two, and it is the same root that gives "dragonlet," a close relative with a shared origin. Because the suffix "-let" simply marks something small, the word's meaning follows directly from whichever "drake" it is built on. The plural form adds nothing to the history beyond the regular "-s" ending that marks more than one.