-culus, -cula, -culum
a L. dim. suffix of all three genders, as in fasci-culus little fascis or bundle, auri-cula little ear, opus-culum small work. For the phonetic representatives of these, and their adapted forms in -cle, -cule, see the latter. A considerable number of the Latin words are retained unchanged in technical or learned use, as calculus, fasciculus, Ranunculus, Auricula, esp. of those in -culum, as curriculum, operculum, opusculum, vasculum, vinculum, etc.