FromMiddle English -ish -isch Old English -isċ ( “ -ish ” ,suffix ) , fromProto-West Germanic *-isk Proto-Germanic *-iskaz ( “ -ish ” ) , fromProto-Indo-European *-iskos
Cognate withDutch -s German -isch Dutch -isch Norwegian Danish Swedish -isk -sk Lithuanian -iškas Russian -ский ( -skij ) ; and theAncient Greek diminutive suffix-ίσκος ( -ískos ) .Doublet of-esque -ski
-ish
( of adjectives from common nouns ) Typical of,similar to, beinglike .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; [ …] ( of adjectives from adjectives, with adiminutive force ) Somewhat ,rather .1935 George Goodchild , chapter 5, inDeath on the Centre Court :By one o'clock the place was choc-a-bloc. […] The restaurant was packed, and the promenade between the two main courts and the subsidiary courts was thronged with healthy-looking youngish people, drawn to the Mecca of tennis from all parts of the country.
( of adjectives from numbers, especially of times and ages ) About ,approximately .We arrived at tennish . We arrived tennish . ―We arrived sometime around ten. I couldn't tell his precise age, but he looked fiftyish .
( of adjectives from roots of proper nouns denoting names of nations or regions ) , or relating to (anationality , place, language or similar association with something).British Cornish Danish English Finnish Irish Jewish Kentish Polish Scottish Spanish Swedish Turkish This is a productive termination used as a regular formative of adjectives (which are sometimes also used as nouns). ( of adjectives from common nouns ) Many of the words may have a more or less depreciative or contemptuous force.( of adjectives from roots of proper nouns ) This is the regular formative ofpatrial adjectives, with the suffix in some adjectives being contracted to-sh or (especially whent precedes) to-ch , as inWelsh (formerly alsoWelch ),Scotch ,Dutch , andFrench . Some used colloquially or made up on occasion may have a diminutive or derogatory implication.appended to words
Albanian:-ëz Armenian:-ական ( -akan ) Dutch:-achtig (nl) ,-ig (nl) Georgian:-ური ( -uri ) German:-haft (de) ,-lich (de) ,-ig (de) Greek:-ικός (el) ( -ikós ) Hungarian:-os (hu) ,-as (hu) ,-es (hu) ,-ös (hu) ,-s (hu) ,-dad -ded Italian:-ico m -ica f Japanese:っぽい (ja) ( ppoi ) Norwegian:Bokmål:-aktig (no) Polish:-iczny -yczny Portuguese:-ico (pt) Romanian:-ic (ro) ,-esc (ro) ,-iu Spanish:-ico (es) ,-iento (es) Swedish:-aktig (sv) Turkish:-ca (tr) ,-ça (tr) ,-ce (tr) ,-çe (tr) Welsh:-aidd (cy)
appended to adjectives
Armenian:-ավուն ( -avun ) Azerbaijani:-sov Basque:-xka Dutch:-achtig (nl) ,-ig (nl) Finnish:-hko (fi) ,-hkö (fi) French:-âtre (fr) ( mostly colours ) ,assez (fr) Georgian:მო- -ო ( mo- -o ) German:-lich (de) Hindi:सा (hi) ( sā ) Hungarian:-os (hu) ,-as (hu) ,-es (hu) ,-ös (hu) ,-s (hu) Irish:scoth- ( colours ) Lithuanian:-okas Polish:-awy (pl) Romanian:-iu -ui (ro) ( mostly colors ) Russian:-ва́тый m ( -vátyj ) Serbo-Croatian:Roman:-ast Spanish:-ento (es) ,-oso (es) Turkish:-imsi (tr) ,-imtrak Welsh:-aidd (cy)
appended to roots denoting names of nations or regions
Arabic:ـِيّ (ar) ( -iyy ) Armenian:-ական ( -akan ) Chinese:Cantonese:useattributive noun Mandarin:useattributive noun Czech:-ský (cs) m Danish:-isk -sk -esisk Dutch:-isch (nl) ,-s (nl) Faroese:-skur French:-ois (fr) ,-oise (fr) ,-ais (fr) ,-aise (fr) ,-ain (fr) ,-aine (fr) Galician:-és (gl) m Georgian:-ელი ( -eli ) German:-isch (de) Gothic:-𐌹𐍃𐌺𐍃 m ( -isks ) Hungarian:-i (hu) ,-beli (hu) Icelandic:-skur Manx:( nationality, region or place ) -agh m ( language ) -ish f Norwegian:-sk (no) Old Norse:-iskr Polish:-ski (pl) m Portuguese:-ês (pt) m -esa f -eses m pl -esas f pl Romanian:-esc (ro) Russian:-ский m ( -skij ) Sanskrit:-ईय ( -īya ) Sicilian:-isi m -isa f -isi m pl or f pl -otu m -ota f -oti m pl or f pl -anu m -ana f -ani m pl or f pl -itanu m -itana f -itani m pl or f pl Spanish:-és (es) m -esa m Swedish:-isk (sv)
Translations to be checked
FromMiddle English -ishen -ischen -issen Old French -iss- -is- Latin -ēscere -īscere inchoative suffix), the formative-esc- -isc- -sc- -σκ- ( -sk- ) ) being ultimately cognate with English-ish (Etymology 1) -esce -escent
-ish
( no longerproductive ) An ending found on some verbs; see usage notes. This is a termination of some English verbs of French origin, which normally end in-ir astonish banish establish diminish finish punish In some verbs it appears in the form-ise advertise franchise verbs borrowed from French
William Dwight Whitney andBenjamin E[li] Smith , editors (1914 ), “-ish”, inThe Century Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language The Century Co. ,→OCLC page3193 William Dwight Whitney ,Benjamin E[li] Smith , editors (1911 ), “ish ”, inThe Century Dictionary [ … ] The Century Co. ,→OCLC Booker, John Manning (1912 ),The French “Inchoative” Suffix -iss and the French -ir Conjugation in Middle English [1] -ish
Formsrelational adjective from nouns. Synonym: -escu arãdzãm ( “ plateau ” ) + -ish → arãdzãmish ( “ plateau inhabitant ” ) eadiri ( “ ivy ” ) + -ish → eadirish ( “ of ivy ” ) irghile ( “ stud ” ) + -ish → irghilish ( “ of a stud ” ) limonj ( “ lemon ” ) + -ish → limunish ( “ of lemon colour ” ) purtucal ( “ orange ” ) + -ish → purtucalish ( “ of orange colour ” ) munti ( “ mountain ” ) + -ish → muntish ( “ of the mountain ” ) pãduri ( “ forest ” ) + -ish → pãdurish ( “ of the forest ” ) pãrnari ( “ holly oak ” ) + -ish → pãrnãrish ( “ of holly oak ” ) pixari ( “ box tree ” ) + -ish → pixãrish ( “ of box tree ” ) toamnã ( “ autumn ” ) + -ish → tumnish ( “ of autumn ” ) trandafil ( “ rose ” ) + -ish → trandaflish ( “ rosy ” ) Formsnouns to indicate forests or plantations of plants. Synonyms: -ishti -et alun ( “ hazel tree ” ) + -ish → alunish ( “ forest of hazel trees ” ) carpin ( “ hornbeam ” ) + -ish → cãrpinish ( “ forest of hornbeams ” ) cãstãnj ( “ chestnut tree ” ) + -ish → cãstãnjish ( “ forest or plantation of chestnut trees ” ) dative form ofOld Irish -as ( “ -ish ” ) .
-ish f
-ish ( language ) Added to names of places or peoples to denote the language spoken in that place or by that people. Old Irish -si ( 3rd person singular feminine; 2nd person plural )
-ish
-self ( emphatic ) Inherited fromOld English -isċ
-ish
alternative form of-yssh -ish
A suffix denoting thepejorative form of a noun that ends in a consonant. -ish
pejorative Jerry Randolph Valentine (2001 ),Nishnaabemwin Reference Grammar , University of Toronto, page191
-ish
( slang ) Used to form slang words (that are often identical in meaning to the unsuffixed word). Vad händish ? (Vad händer?) What's up? 
