a suffix used to form adjectives from nouns, with the sense of “belonging to” (British; Danish; English; Spanish); “after the manner of,” “having the characteristics of,” “like” (babyish; girlish; mulish); “addicted to,” “inclined or tending to” (bookish; freakish); “near or about” (fiftyish; sevenish).
a suffix used to form adjectives from other adjectives, with the sense of “somewhat,” “rather” (oldish; reddish; sweetish).
Origin of -ish
1
Middle English;Old English-isc; cognate with German-isch,Gothic-isks,Greek-iskos; akin to -esque
-ish
2
a suffix occurring in i-stem verbs borrowed from French: ravish.
Origin of -ish
2
< French-iss-, extended stem of verbs with infinitives in -ir ≪ Latin-isc-, in inceptive verbs
adjectival suffix, from Old English -isc, common Germanic (cf. Old Norse -iskr, German -isch, Gothic -isks), cognate with Greek diminutive suffix -iskos. Colloquially attached to hours to denote approximation, 1916.
