-ish

See also ish, and Ish

English

Etymology

From Middle English -ish, -isch, from Old English -isc (“-ish”, suffix), from Proto-Germanic *-iskaz (“-ish”), from Proto-Indo-European *-iskos. Cognate with Dutch -s, German -isch, Norwegian and Danish -isk, and Ancient Greek diminutive suffix -ισκος (-iskos).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ɪʃ/, SAMPA: /IS/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Suffix

-ish

1. (appended to many kinds of words) Typical or similar to.

   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; […]

2. (appended to adjectives) Somewhat.

   Her face had a greenish tinge.

3. (appended to numbers, especially times and ages) About, approximately.

   We arrived at tennish or We arrived tennish. (A few minutes before, to a few minutes after.)

   I couldn't tell his precise age, but he was fiftyish.

4. (appended to roots denoting names of nations or regions) Of a nationality, region, or place, or the language associated with a place.

   Cornish, Danish, English, Kentish, Spanish

Translations

appended to words

Dutch: -achtig (nl), -ig (nl) Greek: -ικος (el) (-ikos) Japanese: っぽい (ja) (ppoi)

Polish: -iczny, -yczny m., -iczna, -yczna f., -iczne, -yczne n. Spanish: -ico m., -ica f.

appended to adjectives

Armenian: -ավուն (hy) (-avun) Dutch: -achtig (nl), -ig (nl) French: -âtre (fr)

Irish: (colours) scoth- (ga) Russian: -ватый (ru) (-vátyj)

appended to numbers

Dutch: rond (nl)

French: environ (fr), à peu près (fr)

appended to roots denoting names of nations or regions

Dutch: -isch (nl) Manx: (nationality, region or place) -agh (gv) m., (language) -ish (gv) f.

Russian: -ский (ru) (-skij)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

German: -isch Italian: -ico m., -ica f.

See also

• -ic
• -isch, -sch
• -ese
• -ika
• -ik
• -isc
• -isk
• -sk
• -ska
• -ski
• -skie
• -sky
• -ie
• -y
• -s

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Manx

Suffix

-ish

1. -ish (language)

Usage notes

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

Suffix

-ish

1. -self (emphatic)

Usage notes

• 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).

Alternative forms

• -s
• -sh

Related terms

• -yn
• -syn