rivulet

[ riv-yuh-lit ]

/ ˈrɪv yə lɪt /

a small stream; streamlet; brook.

Origin of rivulet

1580–90; earlier rivolet < Italian rivoletto, diminutive of rivolo < Latin rīvulus small stream

They flow wideningly around the hard turnings of the house with the grace of a rivulet.

The Amateur Garden |George W. Cable
Before they reached them, however, they encountered the ravine through which the rivulet here ran.

Under Wellington's Command |G. A. Henty
At least twenty times she trembled violently when a little stone rolled in the rivulet, or a prowling animal jumped over the wall.

The Dream |Emile Zola
I remarked that the one containing the chief priest had fallen into a rivulet, as if fate was not tired of drowning him.

The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan |James Morier

The fiction of Camons, founded on the popular name of the rivulet, is in the spirit of Homer.

The Lusiad |Lus de Cames

rivulet

/ (ˈrɪvjʊlɪt) /

a small stream

C16: from Italian rivoletto, from Latin rīvulus, from rīvus stream