-eth

See also: eth, Eth, ETH, eth-, Eth., eð, and eþ

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English -eth, -th, -ith, from Old English -eþ, -aþ, -þ, from Proto-Germanic *-þi, *-di, from Proto-Indo-European *-ti.

Alternative forms

• -th

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /-əθ/, /ɪθ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• There is some evidence that verbs written with this ending in Early Modern English were pronounced as if they ended in -s, which was common in speech before becoming common in writing. Alternatively (or in addition to the former) the Northumbrian dialect of Old English's third-person singular present indicative suffix, -s, may have eventually displaced the -eth suffix.

Suffix

-eth

1. (archaic) Used to form the third-person singular present indicative of verbs.

   Pride goeth before a fall... The good Lord giveth and the good Lord taketh away...

2. (humorous) Used broadly with various verb forms for ironic pseudoarchaic or pseudoecclesiastical effect.

   Hark, the assistant manager doth emaileth ye... But thou saideth!... Rolling a natural 20, he killedeth the kobolds... Verily, I am shooketh...

Coordinate terms

• -est, -st

See also

• -e (pseudoarchaic)

Etymology 2

From Middle English -th, -eth, -the, -ethe, from Old English -þa, -þe, -oþa, from Proto-Germanic *-þô, *-tô, *-udô, *-dô, from Proto-Indo-European *-tós.

Suffix

-eth

1. used to create ordinal numbers from cardinal numbers ending in -y, namely the multiples of ten (other than ten itself): 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, and 90; e.g. twentieth, thirtieth.

Derived terms

English terms suffixed with -eth

eightieth

fiftieth

fortieth

infinitieth

seventieth

shooketh

sixtieth

so-manieth

thirtieth

twentieth

umptieth

Anagrams

• het, the, EHT, Teh, HET, the-, TEH, teh

Cornish

Etymology

From Middle Cornish -eth, from Proto-Brythonic *-aɨθ, from Proto-Celtic *-axtā, from *axtā. Cognate with Breton -ezh, Irish -acht, Manx -aght, Scottish Gaelic -achd, and Welsh -aeth. Related to -ieth.

Suffix

-eth f (countable or uncountable, plural -ethow)

1. Forms abstract nouns

   ‎yowynk (“young”) + ‎-eth → ‎yowynkneth (“youth”)

   ‎diwyethek (“bilingual”) + ‎-eth → ‎diwyethogeth (“bilingualism”)

   ‎esel (“member”) + ‎-eth → ‎eseleth (“membership”)

Usage notes

• Often added with epenthetic n

Derived terms

Cornish terms suffixed with -eth

alkohologeth

dentethyel

lasogeth

yowynkneth

Middle English

Etymology 1

Originally proper to the classs 2 weak verbs; inherited from Old English -aþ, from Proto-West Germanic *-ōþ, from Proto-Germanic *-ōþi, from Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti.

Alternative forms

• -et, -eþ, -it, -ith, -yt, -yth, -yþ
• -th, -þ (especially Late Middle English); -ot, -oth, -oþ, -ut, -uth, -uþ (Southwestern, West Midland)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /-əθ/

Suffix

-eth (Central and South Midland, Kent, Southern)

1. Used to form the third-person singular present indicative of verbs (other than preterite-presents).

Usage notes

• After the Early Middle English period, this suffix almost entirely supplants earlier -t, -th in strong and class 1 weak verbs over in the Central and Southeast Midlands and increasingly becomes an alternative option to that suffix elsewhere. However, a countervailing tendency to syncopate the vowel of this suffix operates, especially in Later Middle English and after vowel-final verb stems; the suffix's reflex usually retains it in the Early Modern orthoepists (writers on pronunciation), though this may be because it had largely been supplanted by -s in everyday speech.
• This suffix has been almost entirely supplanted by -es in Northern Middle English even in the earliest surviving records; it is only slightly more frequent in North Midland Middle English. This replacement gradually diffuses southwards over the course of the Middle English period.

Descendants

• English: -eth, -th (archaic)
• → Middle Scots: -eth, -ith (literary, under Chaucerian influence)

Etymology 2

Originally proper to the class 1 weak verbs; inherited from Old English -aþ, from a generalisation of the Proto-West Germanic third-person singular Proto-West Germanic *-anþ, from Proto-Germanic *-anþi, from Proto-Indo-European *-eyónti, *-yónti; for descendants of -iaþ, see -ieth.

In central East Midland and northern East Anglian Middle English, possibly instead an analogical formation from Etymology 1 modelled after the Northern and North Midland use of -es as a present indicative third-person singular and plural.

Alternative forms

• -eþ, -ith, -uth, -uþ, -yth, -yþ

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /-əθ/

Suffix

-eth (Central and Southwest Midland, East Anglia, East Saxon, Kent, Southern)

1. Used to form the present indicative and imperative plural of verbs.

Usage notes

• In the central East Midlands and northern East Anglia, verbs take -en, -e instead of this suffix when a personal pronoun functioning as a subject is immediately adjacent to them due to the analogy of the Northern Subject Rule (this pattern of usage is why an analogical derivation from Etymology 1 has been posited for these areas).

Descendants

• English: -eth, -th (dialectal, obsolete)
• → Middle Scots: -eth, -ith (literary, under Chaucerian influence)

Etymology 3

Suffix

-eth

1. alternative form of -the (abstract nominal suffix)

Etymology 4

Suffix

-eth

1. alternative form of -the (ordinal suffix)