Lynette

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A feminine first name of English and French origin, often a diminutive form derived from names like Lyn or Linda
2. A girl's given name of Western European origin, popular in the twentieth century and linked to diminutives of Lyn
3. A female personal name of English and French derivation that is commonly shortened from longer names such as Lynn

Etymology: Lynette is a name that looks like a diminutive of "Lynn," with the French-style ending "-ette," but its real origin lies in Wales. It is an anglicized form of the Welsh name Eluned, and the spelling shifted over time as English speakers reshaped the unfamiliar sound into something more familiar. The name reached wide attention through Alfred, Lord Tennyson, who used it in his Arthurian poems, the Idylls of the King. In those poems Lynette is a character, a young woman who appears in the story of Gareth, and Tennyson's version gave the name a literary currency it might not otherwise have had. The "Lynn plus -ette" explanation is a folk etymology. Speakers saw a resemblance to the existing name Lynn and the diminutive suffix, and assumed that was the source, when the name actually came from Eluned.