different between dimple vs fossette

English

Etymology

From Middle English dympull, likely from Proto-Germanic *dumpila- (“sink-hole, dimple”), from Proto-Germanic *dumpa- (“hole, hollow, pit”), from Proto-Indo-European *d?ewb- (“deep, hollow”), equivalent to dialectal dump (“deep hole or pool”) +? -le (diminutive suffix). Akin to Old High German tumphilo (“pool”) (whence German Tümpel) and Old English dyppan (“to dip”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?d?mp?l/
• Rhymes: -?mp?l

Noun

dimple (plural dimples)

1. A small depression or indentation in a surface.
   • 1815, William Wordsworth, The White Doe of Rylstone; or, The Fate of the Nortons

     The garden pool's dark surface […] breaks into dimples small and bright.

2. Specifically, a small natural depression on the skin, especially on the face near the corners of the mouth.

Synonyms

• (depression in a surface): dent

Translations

Verb

dimple (third-person singular simple present dimples, present participle dimpling, simple past and past participle dimpled)

1. (transitive) To create a dimple in.

2. (intransitive) To create a dimple in one's face by smiling.

3. To form dimples; to sink into depressions or little inequalities.

   • And smiling eddies dimpled o'er the main.

Synonyms

• (create a dimple in): dent, mar

Translations

Anagrams

• impled, limped

English

Etymology

French, diminutive of fosse (“a fosse”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /f??s?t/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?f??s?t/, /?f??s?t/

Noun

fossette (plural fossettes)

1. A little hollow; a dimple.
2. (medicine) A small, deep-centred ulcer of the transparent cornea.
3. (dentistry) A small depression in the crown of a tooth

Translations

French

Etymology

fosse +? -ette, a diminutive suffix.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /f?.s?t/

Noun

fossette f (plural fossettes)

1. dimple

Further reading

• “fossette” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Italian

Noun

fossette f

1. plural of fossetta

Anagrams

• fottesse