rivulet
/ˈɹɪv.jʊ.lɪt/
Etymology
From Italian rivoletto, diminutive of rivolo (“trickle, little stream”), diminutive of rivo (“stream, brook, creek”), ultimately from Latin rīvulus, diminutive of rīvus. By surface analysis, Latin rīvus + -ule + -et.
rivulet means A small stream; a streamlet; a gill. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 76 out of 100.
rivulet is pronounced /ˈɹɪv.jʊ.lɪt/.
Why “rivulet” is a great word
RIVULET — [Noun] A very small stream or brook. From Italian rivoletto, diminutive of rivolo ("little stream"), itself a diminutive of rivo ("stream"), ultimately from Latin rīvulus, diminutive of rīvus ("stream, brook"). First attested in English in the 1580s. Unlike a brook, which suggests a more established, perennial course, or a rill, which denotes a tiny, ephemeral erosive channel, a rivulet is defined by its slender, often transient grace. It is the silver thread of snowmelt tracing a cold path down sun-warmed rock, the tremulous line of a spring seeping through mossy stones, and the last clear vein of a retreating rainstorm—the world's great waters remembered in a whisper.
noun
- A small stream; a streamlet; a gill.“A rivulet of tears ran down his face.”
- Perizoma affinitatum, a geometrid moth.