-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, Lithuanian -iškas, and Ancient Greek diminutive suffix -ισκος (-iskos).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ɪʃ/, X-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. (Sometime around ten.)

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

4. (appended to roots denoting names of nations or regions) Of a nationality, place, language or similar association with something.

   British, Cornish, Danish, English, Finnish, Irish, Kentish, Scottish, Spanish, Swedish etc.

Translations

appended to words

• Dutch: -achtig (nl), -ig (nl)
• German: -haft (de)
• Greek: -ικος (el) (-ikos)

• Japanese: っぽい (ja) (ppoi)
• Polish: -iczny, -yczny
• Spanish: -ico m, -ica f, -iento (es) m, -ienta (es) f

appended to adjectives

• Armenian: -ավուն (hy) (-avun)
• Dutch: -achtig (nl), -ig (nl)
• Finnish: -hko (fi)/-hkö (fi)
• French: (mostly colours) -âtre (fr)
• German: -lich (de)

• Irish: (colours) scoth- (ga)
• Polish: -awy (pl) m
• Russian: -ватый (ru) (-vátyj)
• Spanish: -ento (es) m

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
• Polish: -ski (pl) m

• Russian: -ский (ru) (-skij)
• Spanish: -és (es) m, -esa (es) m

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

[+] English words suffixed with -ish

---

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