Origin of -ish
Middle English from Old English -isc, akin to German -isch, Classical Latin -iscus, Classical Greek -iskosforming adjectives- of or belonging to (a specified nation or people): Spanish, Irish
- like or characteristic of: devilish, boyish
- tending to be or verging on being (a specified person or thing): knavish
- somewhat, rather: tallish, bluish
- Informal approximately, about: thirtyish, or about thirty years old
Origin of -ish
ME -ishen, -ischen, -issen < OFr -iss-, -is-, stem element in pres. tense < L -isc-, in inceptive verbsforming verbs: it was generalized from certain verbs of French origin: finish, cherish, punish
-ish
-ishWebster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Link to this page
Cite this page
MLA Style
"-ish." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/ish>.
APA Style
-ish. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/ish
-ish
suffix
- Of, relating to, or being: Swedish.
- a. Characteristic of: girlish.b. Having the usually undesirable qualities of: childish.
- Approximately; somewhat: greenish.
- Tending toward; preoccupied with: selfish.
Origin of -ish
Middle English from Old English -iscTHE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Link to this page
Cite this page
MLA Style
"-ish." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/ish>.
APA Style
-ish. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/ish
Verb
- Eye dialect spelling of is.
Origin
From is
Adverb
(not comparable)
- (colloquial) somewhat, reasonably, fairly
- "How was the film?" "It was good, ish."
- The exam went well, ish.
- (colloquial) about, approximately
Origin
From the suffix -ish.
Noun
(plural ishes)
- The name of the letter which stands for the sh sound IPA: /ʃ/ in Pitman shorthand.
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
Link to this page
Cite this page
MLA Style
"-ish." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/ish>.
APA Style
-ish. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/ish
