Latin/Romance fondness of diminutives hitting again…

What happened with the French word is a dime a dozen in Romance philology. Other cases like this are:

• IT orecchia, PT orelha “ear” ← Lat. auricula “little ear”; cf auris “ear”
• IT ginocchio, PT joelho “knee” ← Lat. geniculum “little knee”; cf genu “knee”
• PT ovelha “sheep” ← ouicula “little sheep”; cf ouis “sheep”
• IT muscolo “muscle” ← musculus “little mouse/rat”; cf mus “mouse/rat”
• Lat. stella “star” ← Proto-Italic *stēr-la “little star”; cf Greek astḗr “star”
• Lat. oculus “eye” ← PIE *h₃ókʷ-e-lós “little seer”, “little sighter”; cf Greek ṓps “eye”

I’m listing Italian and Portuguese examples for my own convenience, but they pop up in almost every Romance language.)