English

Alternative forms

• -e, -ey
• -i- (when followed by another suffix)
• -ie

Suffix

-y

1. Added to nouns and adjectives to form adjectives meaning "having the quality of".

   mess → messy

   mouse → mousey, mousy

   blue → bluey

   clay → clayey

2. Added to verbs to form adjectives meaning "inclined to".

   run → runny

   stick → sticky

Usage notes

• This suffix is still very productive and can be added to almost any word. When the resulting word is not perceived to be a real word, a hyphen is used before the suffix (sandcastle → sandcastle-y). A few long-established words ending with this suffix have distinctive spellings, such as wintry and fiery, which English learners might misspell as *wintery and *firey.

Synonyms

• (form “having quality of” adjectives): -ish, -like, -ly, -ous

Antonyms

• (form “having quality of” adjectives): -less

Translations

Note: translations of English words ending in -y do not necessarily end in the suffixes listed below.

Etymology 2

From Middle English and Scots. Compare Dutch -je ‎(diminutive suffix), German Low German -je ‎(diminutive suffix). Also spelled -ie.

Suffix

-y

1. Forming diminutive nouns. Also used for familiar and pet names as a term of endearment.

   granny

   Dicky

Translations

Note: translations of English words ending in -y do not necessarily end in the suffixes listed below.

Etymology 3

From Anglo-Norman and Middle French -ie and -e, from Latin -ia, -ium, -tās, Ancient Greek -ίᾱ ‎(-íā), -ειᾰ ‎(-eia), -ιον ‎(-ion). Cognate (as far as Latin -ia is involved) with German -ei and Dutch -ij.

Suffix

-y

1. Forming abstract nouns denoting a state, condition, or quality.

   modest → modesty

   honest → honesty

   -nym → -nymy (as in toponym → toponymy)

   -logue → -logy (as in analogue → analogy)

2. Used in the name of some locations which end in -ia in Latin.

   Italy, Germany, Saxony, Hungary, Sicily, Lombardy, Tuscany, Albany, Brittany, Burgundy, Picardy, Normandy, Turkey.

Translations

Note: translations of English words ending in -y do not necessarily end in the suffixes listed below.

Derived terms

Asturian

Pronoun

-y

1. him, she, it (third-person singular indirect pronoun)

   da-y pan

   Give him bread

Related terms

• -yos, -ys (third-person plural indirect pronoun)

Finnish

Suffix

-y

1. Front vowel variant of -u.

Declension

Lower Sorbian

Suffix

-y

1. Alternative form of -i (used after “hard” consonants).

Quechua

Suffix

-y

1. Infinitive marker.

   mikhuy ‎(“to eat”)

2. Nominalizes verbs. The act of doing something. "-ing."

   pampachay ‎(“pardon, remission”)

3. Indicates first-person singular possessive.

   mikhuna ‎(“food”) → mikhunay ‎(“my food”)

4. Conjugative suffix for the second-person imperative mood.

   Uyariway! ("(You) listen to me!")