suffixa. One that receives or benefits from a specified action: addressee.
b. One that possesses a specified thing: mortgagee.
- One that performs a specified action: absentee.
Usage Note: Reflecting its origins in the French passive participle ending
-é (feminine
-ée), the suffix
-ee was first used in English to refer to indirect objects and then to direct objects of transitive verbs, particularly in legal contexts (as in
donee, lessee, or
trustee) and in military and political jargon (
draftee, trainee, or
nominee). Beginning around the mid-19th century, primarily in American English, it was often extended to denote the agent or subject of an intransitive verb, as in
standee and
returnee. The coining of new words ending in
-ee continues to be common. A number of these coinages, such as
honoree, deportee, and
escapee, have become widely accepted. Many others, such as
firee (one who is fired from a job),
invitee, jokee, and
roastee (one who is ridiculed at a roast), are created ad hoc and often have a comic effect. On rare occasions the suffix
-ee has been applied to noun forms, giving us words like
benefactee (from
benefactor) and to transitive verbs, where the suffix denotes the agent, such as
attendee.
