FromMiddle English-eys, fromOld French-eis, fromLatin-ēnsis and, less often,Late Latin-iscus. Generally used in place of more common equivalent suffixes such as-er and-an on the model of equivalent terms inItalian andPortuguese, particularly for Italian, Portuguese African, and East Asian places first widely discussed in Portuguese and Latin.
-ese
Generally speaking, nouns formed with the suffix-ese have no distinct plural form (e.g.two Viennese) and, usually with the definite article, can be plural and refer to an entire group (e.g.the Ravennese). They are also generally not used in the singular, as in "I am a Chinese"; instead, phrases like "I am a Chinese person" are used, where "Chinese" is an adjective. (In some British dialects, "a Chinese" can be used, but to refer to anellipsis ofChinesemeal, rather than a person.) This is not always the case, particularly for (non-native) English speakers from East Asia who use it to translate demonyms such as日本人 and中国人, but such countable uses may have nonstandard meanings. See also-ish: "I am an English" is similarly considered improper.
Note: these translations are a guide only. For more precise translations, always see individual words ending in-ese.
|
Presumably fromItalian-ese,Portuguese-ese andEnglish-ese +-e.
-ese m (weak,genitive-esen,plural-esen,feminine-esin)
Borrowed fromEnglish-an,French-ain,Italian-ano,Portuguese-ano/Spanish-ano, all ultimately fromLatin-ānus.
1=n2=aPlease seeModule:checkparams for help with this warning.
-ese
Inherited fromLatin-ēnsem(“originating in”), whence also Italian-ense.
-ese m orfby sense (adjective-forming suffix,plural-esi)or
-ese m orfby sense (noun-forming suffix,plural-esi)