Standard Lemma guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
suffix
Denotes the past participle form when attached to a verb.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: idiomatic, morpheme
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
suffix
Denotes a quasi-past participle or participle-like adjective when attached to a noun or verb.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: archaic, morpheme
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
suffix
Used to denote the plural form of a small number of English nouns, the majority of whose etymologies go back to the n-stem (i.e. weak noun) declension of Germanic languages.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: morpheme
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
suffix
Used to form the plural of nouns.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: dialectal, humorous, morpheme, nonstandard, often, rare
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
suffix
When attached to certain adjectives, it forms a transitive verb whose meaning is, to make (adjective). Usually, the verb is ergative, sometimes not. The same construction could also be done to certain (fewer) nouns, as, strengthen, in which case the verb means roughly, "to give (noun) to", or "to become like (noun)".
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: morpheme
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
suffix
Pertaining to, having the qualities of, resembling, or like.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: morpheme
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
suffix
When attached to certain nouns that are the names of a material, it forms an adjective whose meaning is, made of (noun).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: morpheme
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
suffix
Used to form the diminutives of certain nouns.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: morpheme
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
suffix
Denotes a female form of a few nouns.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: morpheme
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
suffix
Used to form the infinitive of verbs.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: morpheme, obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
suffix
Used to form the plural present tense of verbs.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: morpheme, obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
suffix
Used to form the plural past tense of verbs.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: morpheme, obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
suffix
Indicates the presence of a carbon-carbon double bond.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: morpheme
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
From Middle English -n, -en, past participle ending of strong verbs (compare Middle English take(n), took, taken (“take, took, taken”)), from Old English -en and Old Norse -inn, past participle ending of strong verbs (compare Old Norse taka, tók, tekinn (“take, took, taken”)), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *-inaz, a variant of *-anaz. In Middle English, the suffix was often weakened to -e or disappeared (compare Southern Middle English do(n), dud(e), ydo (“do, did, done”)), but not in others (compare cume(n), com, ycume (“come, came, come”)), from Proto-Germanic *-anaz, from Proto-Indo-European *-nós.
From Middle English -en, -n, the plural suffix of weak nouns (n-stems), from Old English -an, from Proto-West Germanic *-an m, *-ōn f or n, from Proto-Germanic *-an- m, *-ōn- f or n, from Proto-Indo-European *-on-, o-grade form of the n-stem suffix. Reinforced by the early Middle English dative plural ending -en, from late Old English -an, weakened form of earlier -um.
From Middle English -(e)nen, -(e)nien, from Old English -nian, from Proto-West Germanic *-inōn, from Proto-Germanic *-inōną. Cognate with Saterland Frisian -enje, West Frisian -enje, Danish -ne, Swedish -na, Icelandic -na.
From Middle English -en, from Old English -en, from Proto-West Germanic *-īn, from Proto-Germanic *-īnaz; suffix meaning "made of, consisting of, having the qualities of" applied to nouns to form adjectives. Akin to Dutch -en, German -en, Icelandic -inn, Latin -īnus. See -ine.
From Middle English -en, from Old English -en, from the neuter form of -en (“pertaining to”, adjective-forming suffix).
From Middle English -en, from Old English -en, from Proto-West Germanic *-ini.
From Middle English -en, from Old English -an, from Proto-West Germanic *-an, from Proto-Germanic *-aną. Compare -y (intransitive infinitive ending).
From Middle English -en, from Old English -on and -en, the indicative and subjunctive past tense plural endings of verbs.
From French -ène.
Across languages
9 source translations are retained for this English entry.
