-rel

The English word doggerel generally refers to poetry composed in irregular rhythm. This word partly comes from the word dog, which was once used in a depreciative sense, meaning “bad” (e.g. dog-English) (now archaic). It also contains the suffix -rel, which forms diminutives, sometimes with derogatory implication.

There are two words suffixed with -rel that probably have the sense of both diminutive and negative implication. One of them is gangrel, meaning “a vagrant”, and the other is wastrel, who is “a good-for-nothing, idle, worthless, disreputable person”.

On the other hand, the words “suckerel” and “cockerel” don’t have a negative meaning. Suckerel is equivalent to suckling¹ and means “an unweaned child”. Cockerel is a diminutive form of cock, which usually means “a young male of the domestic chicken”.