-ish
English
editEtymology 1
editFrom Middle English -ish, -isch, from Old English -isċ (“-ish”, suffix), from Proto-West Germanic *-isk, from Proto-Germanic *-iskaz (“-ish”), from Proto-Indo-European *-iskos.
Cognate with Dutch -s; German -isch (whence Dutch -isch); Norwegian, Danish, and Swedish -isk or -sk; Lithuanian -iškas; Russian -ский (-skij); and the Ancient Greek diminutive suffix -ίσκος (-ískos). Doublet of -esque and -ski.
Pronunciation
edit- enPR: ĭsh
- (US, Canada, Australia, Scotland) IPA(key): /ɪʃ/
- (New Zealand) IPA(key): /əʃ/
- (India) IPA(key): /iʃ/
Audio (US): (file)
Suffix
edit-ish
- (of adjectives from common nouns) Typical of, similar to, being like.
- Her face had a girlish charm.
- 1859, Harriet Parr (as Holme Lee), Against Wind and Tide, volume 1, p. 273:
- […] ; for she had recently developed a magpie[-]ish tendency to appropriate and conceal trifling matters; […]
- (of adjectives from adjectives, with a diminutive force) Somewhat, rather.
- Her face had a bluish tinge.
- 1935, George Goodchild, chapter 5, in Death on the Centre Court:
- By one o'clock the place was choc-a-bloc. […] The restaurant was packed, and the promenade between the two main courts and the subsidiary courts was thronged with healthy-looking youngish people, drawn to the Mecca of tennis from all parts of the country.
- (of adjectives from numbers, especially of times and ages) About, approximately.
- We arrived at tennish. We arrived tennish. ― We arrived sometime around ten.
- I couldn't tell his precise age, but he looked fiftyish.
- (of adjectives from roots of proper nouns denoting names of nations or regions) Of, belonging, or relating to (a nationality, place, language or similar association with something).
Usage notes
edit- This is a productive termination used as a regular formative of adjectives (which are sometimes also used as nouns).
- (of adjectives from common nouns) Many of the words may have a more or less depreciative or contemptuous force.
- (of adjectives from roots of proper nouns) This is the regular formative of patrial adjectives, with the suffix in some adjectives being contracted to -sh or (especially when t precedes) to -ch, as in Welsh (formerly also Welch), Scotch, Dutch, and French. Some used colloquially or made up on occasion may have a diminutive or derogatory implication.
Synonyms
edit- (being like): quasi-, para-, -oid, -form/-iform, -esque, -ly, -some, -y, (restricted to casual registers) -ass, (forms adjectives from nouns only) -like
Derived terms
editRelated terms
editTranslations
editappended to words
|
|
appended to numbers
appended to roots denoting names of nations or regions
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Etymology 2
editFrom Middle English -ishen, -ischen, -issen, from Old French -iss-, -is- (a termination of the stem of some forms [present participle, etc.] of certain verbs), from Latin -ēscere, -īscere (an inchoative suffix), the formative -esc-, -isc- (-sc-, Greek -σκ- (-sk-)) being ultimately cognate with English -ish (Etymology 1). See -esce, -escent, etc.
Suffix
edit-ish
- (no longer productive) An ending found on some verbs; see usage notes.
Usage notes
edit- This is a termination of some English verbs of French origin, which normally end in -ir in French, or formed on the type of such verbs, having no assignable force, but being merely a terminal relic, e.g. astonish, banish, establish, diminish, finish, punish, etc.
- In some verbs it appears in the form -ise, as in advertise and franchise.
Related terms
editverbs borrowed from French
References
edit- William Dwight Whitney and Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1914), “-ish”, in The Century Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language, revised edition, volume III, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC, page 3193.
- William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “ish”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
Further reading
edit- Booker, John Manning (1912), The French “Inchoative” Suffix -iss and the French -ir Conjugation in Middle English[1], Heidelberg
Anagrams
editAromanian
editSuffix
edit-ish
- Forms relational adjective from nouns.
- Synonym: -escu
- arãdzãm (“plateau”) + -ish → arãdzãmish (“plateau inhabitant”)
- eadiri (“ivy”) + -ish → eadirish (“of ivy”)
- irghile (“stud”) + -ish → irghilish (“of a stud”)
- limonj (“lemon”) + -ish → limunish (“of lemon colour”)
- purtucal (“orange”) + -ish → purtucalish (“of orange colour”)
- munti (“mountain”) + -ish → muntish (“of the mountain”)
- pãduri (“forest”) + -ish → pãdurish (“of the forest”)
- pãrnari (“holly oak”) + -ish → pãrnãrish (“of holly oak”)
- pixari (“box tree”) + -ish → pixãrish (“of box tree”)
- toamnã (“autumn”) + -ish → tumnish (“of autumn”)
- trandafil (“rose”) + -ish → trandaflish (“rosy”)
- Forms nouns to indicate forests or plantations of plants.
Derived terms
editManx
editEtymology 1
editCognate to Irish -is; from the dative form of Old Irish -as (“-ish”).
Suffix
edit-ish f
- -ish (language)
Usage notes
edit- Added to names of places or peoples to denote the language spoken in that place or by that people.
Etymology 2
editFrom Old Irish -si (3rd person singular feminine; 2nd person plural)
Alternative forms
editSuffix
edit-ish
- -self (emphatic)
Usage notes
edit- Added to prepositional pronouns to add emphasis (not to create a reflexive pronoun).
- Used in third-person singular feminine (eg mareeish).
- Used in second-person plural (eg erriuish).
Derived terms
editRelated terms
editMiddle English
editEtymology
editInherited from Old English -isċ.
Suffix
edit-ish
- alternative form of -yssh
Ojibwe
editSuffix
edit-ish
- A suffix denoting the pejorative form of a noun that ends in a consonant.
See also
editOttawa
editSuffix
edit-ish
- pejorative
References
editJerry Randolph Valentine (2001), Nishnaabemwin Reference Grammar, University of Toronto, page 191
Swedish
editSuffix
edit-ish
- (slang) Used to form slang words (that are often identical in meaning to the unsuffixed word).
- Vad händish? (Vad händer?)
- What's up?
- haffish
- kebabish
- kebab
Derived terms
editCategories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English doublets
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English suffixes
- English adjective-forming suffixes
- English productive suffixes
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English positive polarity items
- Aromanian lemmas
- Aromanian suffixes
- Manx terms derived from Old Irish
- Manx lemmas
- Manx suffixes
- Manx noun-forming suffixes
- Manx feminine suffixes
- Manx emphatic suffixes
- Middle English terms inherited from Old English
- Middle English terms derived from Old English
- Middle English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- Middle English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- Middle English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Middle English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Middle English terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European
- Middle English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Middle English alternative forms
- Ojibwe lemmas
- Ojibwe suffixes
- Ojibwe noun suffixes
- Ottawa lemmas
- Ottawa suffixes
- Swedish lemmas
- Swedish suffixes
- Swedish slang
- Swedish terms with usage examples