Ful

The suffix –ful means “full of,” “characterized by,” “tending to,” “able to,” or “as much as will fill.” It is often used in a variety of technical and everyday terms.

The suffix –ful comes from Old English –full, meaning “full.” The Latin equivalent of –ful is –ōsus, meaning “full of,” which has become the English adjectival suffixes –ose, as in jocose, and –ous, as in glorious. To learn more, check out all four entries.

An example of a word you may have encountered that features –ful is beautiful, “having beauty.”

The beauti– part of the word means “beauty,” as in a quality that gives pleasure. The –ful part of the word means “full of,” as we have seen. Beautiful literally translates to “full of beauty.”

What are some words that use the equivalents of the combining form –ful in Middle or Old English?

• careful
• harmful
• shameful
• spoonful
• thoughtful

What are some other forms that –ful may be commonly confused with?

• -fuge
• -fy

Given the meaning of –ful, what does shameful literally mean?