-ie en · X · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- -ē
- /-i/ (Canada, General-American, Scotland)
- /-iː/ (Australia, India, New-Zealand, Received-Pronunciation)
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *-j-, *-ij- Proto-West Germanic *-i, *-ī Old English -iġ Middle English -y English -y English -ie Variant spelling of -y, with the spelling possibly influenced by the cognate Scots -ie.
Meanings
-
(morpheme) Forming diminutive or affectionate forms of nouns or names.
dear → dearie
“Polly, I wish you ’d let me call you Marie,” said Fanny one day, as they were shopping together. ¶ “You may call me Mary, if you like; but I won’t have any ie put on to my name. I’m Polly at home and I’m fond of being called so; but Marie is Frenchified and silly.” ¶ “I spell my own name with an ie, and so do all the girls.” ¶ “And what a jumble of Netties, Nellies, Hatties, and Sallies there is. How ‘Pollie’ would look spelt so!”
1869, Louisa May Alcott, An Old-Fashioned Girl:Bill → Billie (also Billi, Billy)
sweet → sweetie
smile → smilie (also smiley)
Catherine → Cathie (also Cathi, Cathy); Katherine → Kathie (also Kathi, Kathy)
-
(morpheme) Forming feminine or gender‐neutral forms of given names.
Bill → Billie
Jesse → Jessie
James → Jamie
-
(Australia, New-Zealand, UK, morpheme) Forms colloquial clippings (often functioning as familiarizers), truncating the root to a single stressed syllable.
mosquito → mozzie
barbecue → barbie
Australia/Australian → Aussie
costume → cossie
biscuit → bikkie
position → possie
-
(morpheme, qualifier:occasionally derogatory) Forming colloquial nouns signifying the person or thing associated with the suffixed noun or verb.
bike → bikie
fridge → fridgie (“fridge magnet”)
road → roadie
surf → surfie
town → townie
-
(morpheme) Forming nouns relative to an adjective.
slow → slowie
tough → toughie
small → smallie
-
(morpheme) Forming colloquial interjections or phrases.
eww → ewwie
good → goodie
alright → alrightie
oops → oopsie
ow → owie
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| -ee | alternative | lexicographic | |
| -ey | alternative | lexicographic |
Synonyms
mini- · -cule · -ole · nano- · -ee · -ling · -et · -le · -ette · micro- · -ule · -let · -kin · -icle · -el · -y
Translations (23)
nl -kje (forming diminutive nouns or names) · sv -is (forming diminutive nouns or names) · af -ie (forming diminutive nouns or names) · af -pie (forming diminutive nouns or names) · nl -ie (forming diminutive nouns or names) · af -etjie (forming diminutive nouns or names) · af -kie (forming diminutive nouns or names) · fr -ette (forming diminutive nouns or names) · es ita (forming diminutive nouns or names) · af -tjie (forming diminutive nouns or names) · tr -iş (forming diminutive nouns or names) · nl -ken (forming diminutive nouns or names) · es ito (forming diminutive nouns or names) · nl -tje (forming diminutive nouns or names) · de -chen (forming diminutive nouns or names) · nl -kie (forming diminutive nouns or names) · fr -et (forming diminutive nouns or names) · nl -ke (forming diminutive nouns or names) · af -jie (forming diminutive nouns or names) · nl -etje (forming diminutive nouns or names) · nl -pie (forming diminutive nouns or names) · nl -pje (forming diminutive nouns or names) · nl -je (forming diminutive nouns or names)