*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of -ary

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-os? Proto-Indo-European *-o- Proto-Indo-European *-so- Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂so- Proto-Indo-European *-yós Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂s(i)yós Proto-Italic *

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In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
suffix

Of or pertaining to. Adjectival suffix appended to various words, often nouns, to produce an adjective form. Often added to words of Latin origin, but used with other words also. · Ending of some substantives borrowed or inherited from Latin and French. · Having the specified arity.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-os? Proto-Indo-European *-o- Proto-Indo-European *-so- Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂so- Proto-Indo-European *-yós Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂s(i)yós Proto-Italic *-āsijos Proto-Italic *-āsios Latin -āriusder. Middle English -arie English -ary Inherited from Middle English -arie, a back-formation from Latin and French-borrowed adjectives ending respectively in -ārius and -aire (more rarely from Latin adjectives in -āris: see exemplary and lapidary). Doublet of -ar, -eer, -ier, and -yer; see also the related -arian.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Inherited-form mention-arieenm
  • Doublet mention-eeren
  • Doublet mention-yeren
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:-arie<ety:der<la:-ārius<id:adjective>>>",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *-eh₂\nProto-Indo-European *-os?\nProto-Indo-European *-o-\nProto-Indo-European *-so-\nProto-Indo-European *-eh₂so-\nProto-Indo-European *-yós\nProto-Indo-European *-eh₂s(i)yós\nProto-Italic *-āsijos\nProto-Italic *-āsios\nLatin -āriusder.\nMiddle English -arie\nEnglish -ary\n[Appendix:Glossary#derived_terms|Derived]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"adjective\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"adjective\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"alt\" : \"*-āsijos\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Italic\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"alt\" : \"*-eh₂s(i)yós\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"alt\" : \"*-eh₂so-\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*-eh₂\", \"status\" : \"ambiguous\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" }, { \"alt\" : \"*-so-\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"is_uncertain\" : true, \"id\" : \"athematic\", \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*-os\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" }, { \"alt\" : \"*-o-\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"children\" : [ ], \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" }, { \"id\" : \"suffix\", \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*-yós\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang\" : \"itc-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"keyword\" : \"from\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Italic\", \"term\" : \"*-āsios\", \"lang\" : \"itc-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Latin\", \"term\" : \"-ārius\", \"lang\" : \"la\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"derived\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"-arie\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"-ary\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"-ary\">"
    },
    {
      "name": "yesno",
      "args": {
        "1": "",
        "2": "i",
        "3": "I"
      },
      "expansion": "I"
    },
    {
      "name": "glossary",
      "args": {
        "1": "Inherited"
      },
      "expansion": "Inherited"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "-arie",
        "4": "",
        "5": "",
        "lit": "",
        "pos": "",
        "tr": "",
        "ts": "",
        "id": "",
        "sc": "",
        "g": "",
        "g2": "",
        "g3": "",
        "nocat": "",
        "sort": ""
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English -arie"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh+",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "-arie"
      },
      "expansion": "Inherited from Middle English -arie"
    },
    {
      "name": "glossary",
      "args": {
        "1": "back-formation"
      },
      "expansion": "back-formation"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fr",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "French"
    },
    {
      "name": "doublet",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "-ar<id:occupation>",
        "3": "-eer",
        "4": "-ier<id:occupation>",
        "5": "-yer"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of -ar, -eer, -ier, and -yer"
    },
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:-arie<ety:der<la:-ārius<id:adjective>>>",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *-eh₂\nProto-Indo-European *-os?\nProto-Indo-European *-o-\nProto-Indo-European *-so-\nProto-Indo-European *-eh₂so-\nProto-Indo-European *-yós\nProto-Indo-European *-eh₂s(i)yós\nProto-Italic *-āsijos\nProto-Italic *-āsios\nLatin -āriusder.\nMiddle English -arie\nEnglish -ary"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "*-eh₂",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/-eh₂"
    ],
    [
      "*-os",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/-os#Proto-Indo-European:_athematic"
    ],
    [
      "*-yós",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/-yós#Proto-Indo-European:_suffix"
    ],
    [
      "*-āsios",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Italic/-āsios#Proto-Italic:_adjective"
    ],
    [
      "-ārius",
      "-arius#Latin:_adjective"
    ],
    [
      "-arie",
      "-arie#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "-arie",
      "-arie#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "-ārius",
      "-arius#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "-aire",
      "-aire#French"
    ],
    [
      "-āris",
      "-aris#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "exemplary",
      "exemplary#English"
    ],
    [
      "lapidary",
      "lapidary#English"
    ],
    [
      "-ar",
      "-ar#English:_occupation"
    ],
    [
      "-eer",
      "-eer#English"
    ],
    [
      "-ier",
      "-ier#English:_occupation"
    ],
    [
      "-yer",
      "-yer#English"
    ],
    [
      "-arian",
      "-arian#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "suffix",
      "glosses": [
        "Of or pertaining to. Adjectival suffix appended to various words, often nouns, to produce an adjective form. Often added to words of Latin origin, but used with other words also.",
        "Ending of some substantives borrowed or inherited from Latin and French.",
        "Having the specified arity."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "morpheme"
      ],
      "recordId": "53e2c24b65f574e02c13037f86f9685fbd2e0871d2d20840bb734f88d706f4b5",
      "rawRecordSha256": "55377ead1387bbfab5559e520a8de92772b3bc0274d3c53b9ab8146ddaa33c73",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 216078
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for -ary →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-LWFyeQ