LABLET

n.

A small laboratory, especially one close to and associated with a university.

"Eachlablet, which will house 20 to 30 researchers, will help Intel link up with a professor whose work fits with the firm's strategic plans."

— Robert Buderi, "Intel revamps R&D,"Technology Review, October 2001

"Eli brought the strange fish [a pacu] to the local aquaculture laboratory of the Ministry of Agriculture, which fingered it as a piranha.... Mr. Ortenberg admitted that the aquaculture station should have looked the pacu in the mouth but thought that, under the circumstances, it had made a reasonable guess. 'It's not really a laboratory, just alablet,' he said."

— Hillel Halkin, "EXTRA! Fake Piranhas Invade Sea of Galilee,"Ethnic NewsWatch, December 30, 1994

The suffix-let, "small one," has been used to turn normal-sized words into diminutives for nearly 600 years, and it remains a popular affix to this day. Other -let constructions that we've seen recently areapplet, a small software application, especially one written in the Java language, andfilmlet, a short film, especially one streamed from a Web site.Labletis fairly new, as well.

collaboratory

craplet

Science (General)