ary

¹

[ air-ee ]

adjective

, Chiefly Midland and Southern U.S.

1. any; anyone.
2. none, not any; nary.

-ary

²

1. a suffix occurring originally in loanwords from Classical and Medieval Latin, on adjectives ( elementary; honorary; stationary; tributary ), personal nouns ( actuary; notary; secretary ), or nouns denoting objects, especially receptacles or places ( library; rosary; glossary ). The suffix has the general sense “pertaining to, connected with” the referent named by the base; it is productive in English, sometimes with the additional senses “contributing to,” “for the purpose of,” and usually forming adjectives:

   complimentary; visionary; revolutionary; inflationary.

-ary

suffix

1. forming adjectives of; related to; belonging to

   cautionary

   rudimentary

2. forming nouns
   1. a person connected with or engaged in

      missionary

   2. a thing relating to; a place for

      commentary

      aviary

Word History and Origins

Origin of ary¹

First recorded in 1810–20; alteration of e'er a ever a, in sense “any”

Origin of ary²

Middle English -arie, from Latin -ārius, -a, -um; English personal nouns reflect -ārius, while objects and places reflect -ārium or -āria. Inherited and adopted French forms of this suffix are -er ², -eer, -ier ², -aire; -er ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of ary¹

from Latin -ārius, -āria, -ārium

Example Sentences

The name was first reported Friday by ARY, a private Pakistani TV channel.

From The Daily Beast

I've often thought hit didn't look jest fair fer God 'lmighty t' make sech a woman 'thout ary man t' match her.

From Project Gutenberg

But you bet there ain't ary man lives can ask Jim any fool questions while Jim's a lookin' at him.

From Project Gutenberg

Why, hit's--hit's--jest a caring fer somebody more'n fer ary one else in th' whole world.

From Project Gutenberg

I don't guess Dad would see ary principle in this, 'cause there might be some truth in what you boys said.

From Project Gutenberg

"I've lived all my days without ary winder, an' got along mighty well," said she.

From Project Gutenberg

Words That Use -ary

What does -ary mean?

The combining form -ary is a suffix with a variety of meanings. In some words, it is used to denote an object, particularly a receptacle or place. In some other terms, it is used to mean “pertaining to; connected with.” Additionally, in some English terms it means “contributing to” or “for the purpose of.” It is often used in everyday and technical terms.

The form -ary comes from the Latin -ārius and -ārium, meaning “thing connected with or employed in, place for.” By way of French, English has inherited numerous suffixes with similar meanings to that of -ary, including -aire, as in millionaire; -eer, as in engineer; -er, as in archer; or -ier, as in financier. Check out all four entries to learn more.

Examples of -ary

An example of a word you may have encountered that features -ary is library, “a place set apart to contain books, periodicals, and other material for reading.” Library comes from the Latin librārius, which uses the equivalent of the suffix -ary in that language.

The libr- part of the word means “book,” from Latin liber. The -ary part of the word here means “pertaining to; connected with.” Library literally translates to “pertaining to books.”

What are some words that use the equivalent of the combining form -ary in Latin?

• granary
• judiciary
• legendary
• military
• planetary
• rotary

What are some other forms that -ary may be commonly confused with?

• -arch
• -ard
• -art

Not every word that ends with the exact letters -ary, such as luminary or weary, is necessarily using the suffix -ary to denote “pertaining to.” Learn why luminary means “a celestial body” at our entry for the word.

Break it down!

Given the meaning of the suffix -ary, what does planetary literally translate to?