*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of -ese

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *-iskos Proto-Germanic *-iskaz Proto-West Germanic *-iskbor. Late Latin -iscus ▲ Vulgar Latin -iscus Latin -ēnsis Old French -eisbor. Middle English -eys English -ese From Middle Englis

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
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

Used to form adjectives and nouns describing things and characteristics of a city, region, or country, such as the people and the language spoken by these people. · Used to form nouns meaning the jargon or language used by a particular profession or being or in a particular context.

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

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *-iskos Proto-Germanic *-iskaz Proto-West Germanic *-iskbor. Late Latin -iscus ▲ Vulgar Latin -iscus Latin -ēnsis Old French -eisbor. Middle English -eys English -ese From Middle English -eys, from Old French -eis, from Latin -ēnsis and, less often, Late Latin -iscus. Generally used in place of more common equivalent suffixes such as -er and -an on the model of equivalent terms in Italian and Portuguese, particularly for Italian, Portuguese African, and East Asian places first widely discussed in Portuguese and Latin.

Relationships mentioned by the source

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

  • Inherited-form mention-eysenm
  • Derivation mention-eisfro
  • Derivation mention-ēnsisla
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:-eys<id:-eys enm>",
        "id": "-ese en",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *-iskos\nProto-Germanic *-iskaz\nProto-West Germanic *-iskbor.\nLate Latin -iscus\n▲\nVulgar Latin -iscus\nLatin -ēnsis\nOld French -eisbor.\nMiddle English -eys\nEnglish -ese\n[Appendix:Glossary#loanword|Borrowed]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"-eis fro\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"keyword_abbrev\" : \"bor.\", \"keyword_label\" : \"Borrowed from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"adjective\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"pertaining to\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"pertaining to\", \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*-iskos\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*-iskaz\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-West Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*-isk\", \"lang\" : \"gmw-pro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Late Latin\", \"term\" : \"-iscus\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"la-lat\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" }, { \"terms\" : [ { \"is_duplicate\" : true, \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : { \"1\" : \"la\", \"2\" : \":bor\", \"3\" : \"gmw-pro:*-isk<id:adjective>\", \"id\" : \"suf\", \"tree\" : \"1\" }, \"lang_name\" : \"Vulgar Latin\", \"term\" : \"-iscus\", \"lang\" : \"la-vul\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" }, { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Latin\", \"term\" : \"-ēnsis\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"la\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Old French\", \"term\" : \"-eis\", \"lang\" : \"fro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"-eys\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"-ese\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-id=\"-ese en\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"-ese\" id=\"English:_-ese_en\">"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "-eys"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English -eys"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fro",
        "3": "-eis"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French -eis"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "-ēnsis"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin -ēnsis"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la-lat",
        "3": "-iscus"
      },
      "expansion": "Late Latin -iscus"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "it",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Italian"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "pt",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Portuguese"
    },
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:-eys<id:-eys enm>",
        "id": "-ese en",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *-iskos\nProto-Germanic *-iskaz\nProto-West Germanic *-iskbor.\nLate Latin -iscus\n▲\nVulgar Latin -iscus\nLatin -ēnsis\nOld French -eisbor.\nMiddle English -eys\nEnglish -ese"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "*-iskos",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/-iskos#Proto-Indo-European:_pertaining_to"
    ],
    [
      "*-iskaz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/-iskaz#Proto-Germanic:_pertaining_to"
    ],
    [
      "*-isk",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/-isk#Proto-West_Germanic:_adjective"
    ],
    [
      "-iscus",
      "-iscus#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "-iscus",
      "-iscus#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "-ēnsis",
      "-ensis#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "-eis",
      "-eis#Old_French:_-eis_fro"
    ],
    [
      "-eys",
      "-eys#Middle_English:_-eys_enm"
    ],
    [
      "-eys",
      "-eys#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "-eis",
      "-eis#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "-ēnsis",
      "-ensis#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "-iscus",
      "-iscus#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "-er",
      "-er#English"
    ],
    [
      "-an",
      "-an#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "suffix",
      "glosses": [
        "Used to form adjectives and nouns describing things and characteristics of a city, region, or country, such as the people and the language spoken by these people.",
        "Used to form nouns meaning the jargon or language used by a particular profession or being or in a particular context."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "morpheme"
      ],
      "recordId": "e57da2e82c0ff9e3133b1f4ccd85f95905230158fbb2f12791397d726ddca90f",
      "rawRecordSha256": "a0375fdb17fb1091496906a28f587454a157030bfd94fc6bed0aa6007fe01112",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 187215
    }
  ],
  "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 -ese →

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-LWVzZQ