-ish

See also:ish,Ish,and-ísh

English

Etymology 1

FromMiddle English-ish,-isch,fromOld English-isċ(“-ish”,suffix),fromProto-West Germanic*-isk,fromProto-Germanic*-iskaz(“-ish”),fromProto-Indo-European*-iskos.

Cognate withDutch-s;German-isch(whenceDutch-isch);Norwegian,Danish,andSwedish-iskor-sk;Lithuanian-iškas;Russian-ский(-skij);and theAncient Greekdiminutivesuffix-ίσκος(-ískos).Doubletof-esqueand-ski.

Pronunciation

• (UK)IPA^(key):/ɪʃ/

• Audio(US):

  (file)

Suffix

-ish

1. (of adjectives from common nouns)Typicalof,similarto, beinglike.

   Her face had a girlishcharm.

   • 1859,Harriet Parr(as Holme Lee),Against Wind and Tide,volume 1,p. 273:

     […];for she had recently developed a magpie[-]ishtendency to appropriate and conceal trifling matters;[…]

2. (of adjectives from adjectives, with adiminutiveforce)Somewhat,rather.

   Her face had abluishtinge.

   • 1935,George Goodchild,chapter 5, inDeath 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 youngishpeople, drawn to the Mecca of tennis from all parts of the country.

3. (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.

4. (of adjectives from roots of proper nouns denoting names of nations or regions)Of, belonging,or relating to (anationality,place, language or similar association with something).

   British,Cornish,Danish,English,Finnish,Irish,Jewish,Kentish,Polish,Scottish,Spanish,Swedish,Turkishetc.

Usage notes

• 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 ofpatrialadjectives, with the suffix in some adjectives being contracted to-shor (especially whentprecedes) to-ch,as inWelsh(formerly alsoWelch),Scotch,Dutch,andFrench.Some used colloquially or made up on occasion may have a diminutive or derogatory implication.

Synonyms

• (being like):quasi-,para-,-oid,-form/-iform,-esque,-ly,-some,-y,(restricted to casual registers)-ass,(forms adjectives from nouns only)-like

Derived terms

English terms suffixed with -ish

Related terms

• ish

Translations

appended to words

• Albanian:-ëz
• Armenian:-ական(-akan)
• Dutch:-achtig(nl),-ig(nl)
• Georgian:-ური(-uri)
• German:-haft(de),-lich(de),-ig(de)
• Greek:-ικός(el)(-ikós)
• Hungarian:-os(hu),-as(hu),-es(hu),-ös(hu),-s(hu),-dad,-ded
• Italian:icom,icaf
• Japanese:っぽい(ja)(ppoi)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål:-aktig(no)

• Polish:-iczny,-yczny
• Portuguese:-ico(pt)
• Romanian:-ic(ro),-esc(ro),-iu
• Spanish:-ico(es),-iento(es)
• Swedish:-aktig(sv)
• Turkish:-ca(tr),-ça(tr),-ce(tr),-çe(tr)
• Welsh:-aidd(cy)

appended to adjectives

• Armenian:-ավուն(-avun)
• Azerbaijani:-sov
• Dutch:-achtig(nl),-ig(nl)
• Finnish:-hko(fi),-hkö(fi)
• French:-âtre(fr)(mostly colours),assez(fr)
• Georgian:მო- -ო(mo- -o)
• German:-lich(de)
• Hindi:सा(hi)(sā)
• Hungarian:-os(hu),-as(hu),-es(hu),-ös(hu),-s(hu)
• Irish:scoth-(colours)
• Lithuanian:-okas
• Polish:-awy(pl)
• Romanian:-iu,-ui(ro)(mostly colors)
• Russian:-ва́тый(-vátyj)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman:-ast

• Spanish:-ento(es),-oso(es)
• Turkish:-imsi(tr),-imtrak
• Welsh:-aidd(cy)

appended to numbers

• Armenian:-ոտ(-ot)
• Dutch:rond(nl)
• French:environ(fr),à peu près(fr),-aine(fr)f
• Georgian:-ოდე(-ode)
• German:um...herum(coll.),ca.(de)
• Hungarian:körül(hu),nagyjából(hu),-nyi(hu)
• Indonesian:-an(id)
• Polish:około(pl);koło(pl)
• Turkish:-lerde, -larda

appended to roots denoting names of nations or regions

• Arabic:ـِيّ(ar)(-iyy)
• Armenian:-ական(-akan)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese:useattributive noun

  Mandarin:useattributive noun

• Czech:-ský(cs)m
• Danish:-isk,-sk,-esisk
• Dutch:-isch(nl),-s(nl)
• Faroese:-skur
• French:-ois(fr),-oise(fr),-ais(fr),-aise(fr),-ain(fr),-aine(fr)
• Galician:-és(gl)m
• Georgian:-ელი(-eli)
• German:-isch(de)
• Gothic:-𐌹𐍃𐌺𐍃m(-isks)
• Hungarian:-i(hu),-beli(hu)
• Icelandic:-skur
• Manx:(nationality, region or place)-aghm,(language)-ishf
• Norwegian:-sk(no)
• Old Norse:-iskr
• Polish:-ski(pl)m
• Portuguese:-ês(pt)m,-esaf,-esesmpl,-esasfpl
• Romanian:-esc(ro)
• Russian:-скийm(-skij)
• Sanskrit:-ईय(-īya)
• Spanish:-és(es)m,-esam
• Swedish:-isk(sv)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Italian:^{(pleaseverify)}-icom,^{(pleaseverify)}-icaf

Etymology 2

FromMiddle English-ishen,-ischen,-issen,fromOld French-iss-,-is-(a termination of the stem of some forms [present participle, etc.] of certain verbs), fromLatin-ēscere,-īscere(aninchoativesuffix), the formative-esc-,-isc-(-sc-,Greek-σκ-(-sk-)) being ultimately cognate with English-ish (Etymology 1).See-esce,-escent,etc.

Suffix

-ish

1. (non-productive)An ending found on some verbs; see usage notes.

Usage notes

• This is a termination of some English verbs of French origin, which normally end in-irin 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 inadvertiseandfranchise.

Related terms

verbs borrowed from French

• abolish
• accomplish

References

• William Dwight WhitneyandBenjamin E[li] Smith,editors (1914), “-ish”, inThe Century Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language,revised edition, volume III, New York, N.Y.:The Century Co.,→OCLC,page3193.
• “ish”,inThe Century Dictionary[…],New York, N.Y.:The Century Co.,1911,→OCLC.

Further reading

• Booker, John Manning (1912)The French “Inchoative” Suffix -iss and the French -ir Conjugation in Middle English‎^[1],Heidelberg

Anagrams

• His,Hsi,IHS,Shi,his,shi

Manx

Etymology 1

From thedativeform ofOld Irish-as(“-ish”).

Suffix

-ishf

1. -ish(language)

Usage notes

• Added to names of places or peoples to denote the language spoken in that place or by that people.

Etymology 2

FromOld Irish-si(3rd person singular feminine; 2nd person plural)

Suffix

-ish

1. -self(emphatic)

Usage notes

• Added toprepositional pronounsto add emphasis (notto create a reflexive pronoun).
  • Used inthird-person singularfeminine(egmareeish).
  • Used insecond-person plural(egerriuish).

Alternative forms

• -s,-sh

Related terms

• -yn
• -syn

Derived terms

Manx terms suffixed with -ish

Middle English

Etymology

Inherited fromOld English-isċ.

Suffix

-ish

1. Alternative form of-yssh

Ojibwe

Suffix

-ish

1. A suffix denoting thepejorativeform of a noun that ends in a consonant.

See also

• -iish
• -oosh
• -osh
• -sh
• -wish

Ottawa

Suffix

-ish

1. pejorative

References

Jerry Randolph Valentine (2001)Nishnaabemwin Reference Grammar,University of Toronto, page191

Swedish

Suffix

-ish

1. (slang)Used to form slang words (that are often identical in meaning to the unsuffixed word).

   Vad händish?(Vad händer?)

   What's up?

   haffish

   haffa

   kebabish

   kebab

Derived terms

Swedish terms suffixed with -ish