-ary

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-ary

/ə.ɹi/ UK
/ɹi/ UK
/ə.ɹi/ US
/ɛɹ.i/ US

Where it comes from

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.

suffix

morpheme 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. devolution + -ary → devolutionary
Similar: -al, -ar, -ese, -ic, -id, -ish, -like, -oid, -ory, -ous, -y
morpheme Ending of some substantives borrowed or inherited from Latin and French. dictionary, plenipotentiary
morpheme Having the specified arity.
Similar: -adic

Translations

Every language

suffix of or pertaining to

Português	-ário
Italiano	-ario, -aria, -aio, -aia
العربية	ـِيّ -iyy

suffix having the specified arity

Português	-ário
Français	-aire
Deutsch	-är
Italiano	-ario, -aria
Română	-ar

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Cite this

MLA

"-ary." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/-ary. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

-ary. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/-ary

Chicago

"-ary." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/-ary.

BibTeX

@misc{ary_2026,
  title = {-ary},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/-ary},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}