-y
Meanings
suffix
- Added to nouns and adjectives to form adjectives meaning “having the quality of”, either “involving the referent” or “analogous to it”.
- Added to verbs to form adjectives meaning "inclined to".
suffix
- Forming diminutive nouns.
- Forming familiar names, pet names, nicknames and terms of endearment.
- Added for metrical reasons to songs, often in children's music where it may carry diminutive associations.
- Forming colloquial nouns signifying the person or thing associated with suffixed noun or verb.
- Forming nouns relative to an adjective.
- Forming colloquial interjections or phrases.
suffix
- Forming abstract nouns denoting a condition, quality, or state.
- Used in the name of some locations which end in -ia in Latin.
suffix
- Denotes the infinitive of verbs when used intransitively.
Pronunciation
Word forms
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Germanic *-gaz Proto-West Germanic *-g Old English -iġ Middle English -y English -y From Middle English -y, -i, from Old English -iġ (“-y, -ic”, suffix), from Proto-West Germanic *-g, from Proto-Germanic *-īgaz (“-y, -ic”), from Proto-Indo-European *-kos, *-ikos, *-iḱos (“-y, -ic”). Cognate with Scots -ie (“-y”), West Frisian -ich (“-y”), Dutch -ig (“-y”), Low German -ig (“-y”), German -ig (“-y”), Swedish -ig (“-y”), Gothic -𐌹𐌲𐍃 (-igs, “-y”), Latin -icus (“-y, -ic”), Ancient Greek -ικός (-ikós), Sanskrit -इक (-ika). Doublet of -ac and -ic.
Synonyms
Antonyms
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