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.
Meanings
(morpheme) Added to nouns and adjectives to form adjectives meaning “having the quality of”, either “involving the referent” or “analogous to it”.
mess + -y → messy
sponge + -y → spongy
guts + -y → gutsy
tree + -y → treey
dice + -y → dicey
blue + -y → bluey
hole + -y → holey
Tim keeps trying to make it all more impressionistic, less computer-y. 2003, Cory Doctorow, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, Macmillan, →ISBN:
clay + -y → clayey
cake + -y → caky
mouse + -y → mousy
(morpheme) Added to verbs to form adjectives meaning "inclined to".
panic + -y → panicky
run + -y → runny
twiddle + -y → twiddly
(informal, morpheme, rare) Added to adjectives to form informal synonyms or adjectives meaning "somewhat, rather".
sour + -y → soury
bald + -y → baldy
sick + -y → sicky
posh + -y → poshy
bitter + -y → bittery
yellow + -y → yellowy
tart + -y → tarty
Forms
Spelling
Features
Labels
Source
-iest
Degree=Sup
lexicographic
-ier
Degree=Cmp
lexicographic
Antonyms
-less (antonym(s) of “form “having quality of” adjectives”)
Synonyms
-ian (form “having quality of” adjectives, denoting “involving the referent”) · -ly (form “having quality of” adjectives, denoting “involving the referent”) · -ly (form “having quality of” adjectives, denoting “analogous to the referent”) · -like (form “having quality of” adjectives, denoting “analogous to the referent”) · -oid (form “having quality of” adjectives, denoting “analogous to the referent”) · -ish (form “having quality of” adjectives, denoting “analogous to the referent”) · -ous (form “having quality of” adjectives, denoting “involving the referent”) · -esque (form “having quality of” adjectives, denoting “analogous to the referent”) · -ial (form “having quality of” adjectives, denoting “involving the referent”) · -an (form “having quality of” adjectives, denoting “involving the referent”) · -al (form “having quality of” adjectives, denoting “involving the referent”)
Translations (58)
ast -osa (having the quality of) · hu -es (having the quality of) · ro -os (having the quality of) · pl -ny (having the quality of) · ru -ый (having the quality of) · ru -ый (inclined to) · ast -osu (having the quality of) · es -iento (inclined to) · es -oso (having the quality of) · it -oso (having the quality of) · nl -ig (having the quality of) · es -ento (inclined to) · sa -इन् (having the quality of) · sa -इक (having the quality of) · gl -ento (having the quality of) · gl -oso (having the quality of) · pt -ento (inclined to) · ta -ஆன (having the quality of) · la -osus (having the quality of) · sv -aktig (having the quality of) · no -ig (having the quality of) · enm -y (having the quality of) · es -iento (having the quality of) · es -iego (having the quality of) · pl -liwy (inclined to) · hu -os (having the quality of) · tl ma- (having the quality of) · hu -as (having the quality of) · ja -状 (having the quality of) · ka -ური (having the quality of) · kmr -î (having the quality of) · fi -vä (inclined to) · ga -ach (having the quality of) · ru -ивый (having the quality of) · de -ig (having the quality of) · ja -有り (having the quality of) · uk -ий (having the quality of) · gl -ento (inclined to) · sv -ig (having the quality of) · sv -ig (inclined to) · gl -osa (having the quality of) · uk -ий (inclined to) · hu -s (having the quality of) · ka -ული (having the quality of) · ja -質 (having the quality of) · hu -ös (having the quality of) · ru -ивый (inclined to) · ru -ий (inclined to) · pt -oso (having the quality of) · kmr -în (having the quality of) · ja -みたい (having the quality of) · ru -ий (having the quality of) · fi -va (inclined to) · fi -inen (having the quality of) · pl -owy (having the quality of) · ja -付き (having the quality of) · ja -様な (having the quality of) · kmr -ok (inclined to)
Etymology tree
Proto-Germanic *-j-, *-ij-
Proto-West Germanic *-i, *-ī
Old English -iġ
Middle English -y
English -y
Cognate with Scots -ie, being inherited directly from the same source Middle English -ie, -i, from Old English -iġ (“-ie, -y”, diminutive suffix), possibly from Proto-West Germanic *-ij-, *-j- (diminutive suffix).
Not related with Dutch -je, -ie, regional Low German -je, which are from Proto-West Germanic *-ikīn (English -kin as in lambkin), nor with German -i, which is from Proto-West Germanic *-īn (English -en as in maiden). The vowel /i/ has an onomatopoeic quality to it, which may reinforce its occurrence in diminutives.
Meanings
(morpheme) Forming diminutive nouns.
pin(afore) + -y → pinny
(s)tom(ach) + -y → tummy
gran(nam) + -y → granny
(morpheme) Forming familiar names, pet names, nicknames and terms of endearment.
Jones + -y → Jonesy
John + -y → Johnny
And(rew) + -y → Andy
love + -y → lovey
Bill + -y → Billy
(morpheme) Added for metrical reasons to songs, often in children's music where it may carry diminutive associations.
(morpheme, qualifier:occasionally derogatory) Forming colloquial nouns signifying the person or thing associated with suffixed noun or verb.
fridge + -y → fridgy (“fridge magnet”)
junk + -y → junky
town + -y → towny
(morpheme) Forming nouns relative to an adjective.
bald + -y → baldy
dum(b) + -y → dummy
right + -y → righty
(morpheme) Forming colloquial interjections or phrases.
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós
Proto-Italic *-ijos
Proto-Italic *-ios
Old Latin -ios
Latin -ius
Latin -ia
Old French -ieder.
Middle English -ie
Middle English -y
English -y
From Middle English -y, -ie, -ee, -e, from Anglo-Norman and Middle French -ie and -é, from Latin -ia, -ium, -tās, Ancient Greek -ίᾱ (-íā), -ειᾰ (-eiă), -ιον (-ion).
Cognate (as far as Latin -ia is involved) with German -ei and Dutch -ij.
Meanings
(countable, morpheme, uncountable) Forming abstract nouns denoting a condition, quality, or state.
-nym + -y → -nymy
as in toponym + -y → toponymy
-logue + -y → -logy
as in analogue + -y → analogy
honest + -y → honesty
modest + -y → modesty
(countable, morpheme, uncountable) Used in the name of some locations which end in -ia in Latin.
Inherited from Middle English -y, -ie, for earlier -ien, from the Old English weak class 2 infinitival suffix -ian, -iġan, by syncope from earlier *-ōjan, North Sea Germanic form of Proto-West Germanic *-ōn, from Proto-Germanic *-ōną; reinforced by the suffix -ian, -ġan in Old English verbs of weak class 1 with roots ending in -r (and the exceptional strong class 6 verb swerian). Compare -en (infinitive ending).
Meanings
(West-Country, morpheme, obsolete) Denotes the infinitive of verbs when used intransitively.
Where's your Tom now? Au! he do worky down to factory— he've a-workèd to the gig's two year 1886, Frederic Thomas Elworthy, “Gig, Gig-mill”, in The West Somerset Word-Book, volume 1, London: Trübner & Co., page 284:
But thee, thee wut ruckee, and ſquattee, and doattee in the Chimly Coander lick an Axwaddle ; and wi' the zame tha wut rakee up, and gookee, and tell doil, tell Dildrams and Buckingham Jenkins. An Exmoor Scolding, A. Brice; B. Thorn, 1771, A Vocabulary or Glossary, D, s.v. To tell Dildrams […], page 43
d. wiː də ˈbɽɪŋ æʊɽ ˈʃiːp ɪn l̴ami / ‘We bring our sheep in (to) lamb.’ (36 Co 6, book I) 2008 March 18 [c. 1955], Suzanne Wagner, “English dialects in the Southwest: morphology and syntax”, in Bernd Kortmann, Clive Upton, editors, Varieties of English, volume 1: The British Isles, Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, →DOI, →ISBN, page 432: