IE

See more synonyms for IE on Thesaurus.com

Indo-European.

i.e.

that is.

Origin of i.e.

From the Latin word id est

Can be confusede.g. i.e.

I.E.

Indo-European.
Industrial Engineer.

-ie

variant of -y².

-y

a noun-forming suffix with a variety of functions in contemporary English, added to monosyllabic bases to create words that are almost always informal. Its earliest use, probably still productive, was to form endearing or familiar names or common nouns from personal names, other nouns, and adjectives (Billy; Susie; birdie; doggie; granny; sweetie; tummy). The hypocoristic feature is absent in recent coinages, however, which are simply informal and sometimes pejorative (boonies; cabby; groupie; hippy; looie; Okie; preemie; preppy; rookie). Another function of -y2 (-ie) is to form from adjectives nouns that denote exemplary or extreme instances of the quality named by the adjective (baddie; biggie; cheapie; toughie), sometimes focusing on a restricted, usually unfavorable sense of the adjective (sharpie; sickie; whitey). A few words in which the informal character of -y2 (-ie) has been lost are now standard in formal written English (goalie; movie).

Also -ie.

Compare -o, -sy.

Origin of -y

late Middle English (Scots), orig. in names; of uncertain origin; baby and puppy, now felt as having this suffix, may be of different derivation

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for ie

particularly, especially, specifically, specially, i.e., videlicet, expressly, scilicet

Examples from the Web for ie

Contemporary Examples of ie

Possible Summer Happening: There will be a “Song of the Summer,” put out by a 19-year-old pop starlet whose name ends in -ie.
Let’s Lay Out the Odds on Your Crazy Summer
Kelly Williams Brown
May 25, 2014
One-third of all Egyptians who work for wages (ie, excluding peasant farmers) work for the state, directly or indirectly.
Welcome to the Free World, President Morsi
David Frum
September 25, 2012
Maybe I just needed more time for IE to start feeling familiar.
Can Microsoft Come Back? Dan Lyons’s Month Without Apple and Google
Dan Lyons
April 9, 2012
Which leaves... (3) "All instrumentalities of national power," ie, covert operations.
Obama's Eye for an Eye: Jerusalem for No Iranian Nukes
David Frum
March 5, 2012
Top of the agenda: the government (ie taxpayer) pumping $100bn into their balance sheets in return for a temporary equity stake.
Iceland Crisis: Panic Spreads
Andrew Neil
October 7, 2008

Historical Examples of ie

Wherefore eo, and iu, are greater than ie, the parts than the whole.
The Way To Geometry
Peter Ramus
"If the words are not too big, or silly ones where it's 'ei' or 'ie' and you have to guess," said Bud.
Bud
Neil Munro
For e, ie is written in sollie 160, o is e in sikerliche 187.
Selections from Early Middle English 1130-1250: Part II: Notes
Various
An infinitive form in -ie; as to sowie, to reapie,—Wiltshire.
The English Language
Robert Gordon Latham
Car arriuant en Picardie sur la fin d'Auril, ie n'y ay pas trouu la saison plus auance.
The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, Vol. III: Acadia, 1611-1616
Various

British Dictionary definitions for ie

ie

the internet domain name for

Ireland

IE

abbreviation for

Indo-European (languages)

-ie

suffix forming nouns

a variant of -y 2

i.e.

abbreviation for

id est

Word Origin for i.e.

Latin: that is (to say); in other words

-y

-ey

suffix forming adjectives

(from nouns) characterized by; consisting of; filled with; relating to; resemblingsunny; sandy; smoky; classy
(from verbs) tending to; acting or existing as specifiedleaky; shiny

Word Origin for -y

from Old English -ig, -ǣg

-y

-ie or -ey

suffix informal

denoting smallness and expressing affection and familiaritya doggy; a granny; Jamie
a person or thing concerned with or characterized by beinga groupie; a fatty

Word Origin for -y

C14: from Scottish -ie, -y, familiar suffix occurring originally in names, as in Jamie (James)

-y

suffix forming nouns

(from verbs) indicating the act of doing what is indicated by the verbal elementinquiry
(esp with combining forms of Greek, Latin, or French origin) indicating state, condition, or qualitygeography; jealousy

Word Origin for -y

from Old French -ie, from Latin -ia

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for ie

i.e.

abbreviation of Latin id est, literally "that is;" used in English in the sense of "that is to say."

-y

suffix in pet proper names (e.g. Johnny, Kitty), first recorded in Scottish, c.1400; became frequent in English 15c.-16c. Extension to surnames seems to date from c.1940. Use with common nouns seems to have begun in Scottish with laddie (1546) and become popular in English due to Burns' poems, but the same formation appears to be represented much earlier in baby and puppy.

-y

noun suffix, in army, city, country, etc., from Old French -e, Latin -atus, -atum, pp. suffix of verbs of the first conjugation. In victory, history, etc. it represents Latin -ia, Greek -ia.

-y

adjective suffix, "full of or characterized by," from Old English -ig, from Proto-Germanic *-iga (cf. German -ig), cognate with Greek -ikos, Latin -icus.

-ie

alternative spelling of -y; now mostly of -y (3), but formerly of others.

ie in Culture

i.e.

An abbreviation for id est, a Latin phrase meaning “that is.” It indicates that an explanation or paraphrase is about to follow: “Many workers expect to put in a forty-hour week — i.e., to work eight hours a day.” (Compare e.g.)