Rivulets

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Thin, narrow streams of liquid flowing over a surface
2. Small channels where liquid runs in a gentle, continuous flow
3. Tiny flowing lines or streaks of liquid appearing on a surface

Etymology: "Rivulets" is the plural of "rivulet," and the plural is the form that does the describing here: each thin stream is one of many. The noun goes back to Latin "rīvulus," a little stream, a diminutive of "rīvus," meaning stream or brook. Latin "rīvus" is the root of the English "river"-family vocabulary, so "rivulet" is essentially a river with a diminutive ending attached. The word reached English by a roundabout route. Latin "rīvulus" shrank into Italian "rivoletto," passing through the intermediate Italian forms "rivolo" (trickle, little stream) and "rivo" (stream, brook, creek). English borrowed the Italian word, so the chain runs Latin, then Italian, then English, with each step adding a further layer of smallness. The word is a kind of nested diminutive: a stream, made smaller, and then smaller again.

Synonyms: streams, brooks