-ee
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Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
-ee¹
Where it comes from
From Middle English -ee, -ē, from Anglo-Norman and Old French -ee, French -é, -ée, endings forming past participle of verbs ending in -er. Doublet of -ate. More distantly related to inherited English -ed.
suffix -ees
- Added to transitive verbs to form words meaning a person or thing that is the object of that verb (i.e., to whom or to which an action is done). examine + -ee → examinee
- Added to intransitive verbs to form words meaning a person or thing that is the subject of that verb (that is, who or that does an action). absent + -ee → absentee
- Used to form words meaning a person who is the other party to a contract or other transaction involving a person described by the corresponding word ending in -or. assign + -ee → assignee
- Used to form words meaning a person who has undergone a particular medical procedure. laryngectomy + -ee → laryngectomee
- Irregularly added to nouns to mean a person somehow associated with the object denoted by the noun. barge + -ee → bargee
-ee²
Where it comes from
Perhaps a variation on -ie and -y
suffix
- Used to form diminutives. boot + -ee → bootee
-ee³
Where it comes from
Most likely derived from broken English used by Chinese immigrants to America during the 17th to 19th centuries. The -ee was added by those speakers for final consonants in English words that do not exist in Cantonese phonology.
suffix
- Used in mimicking English as stereotypically spoken by the Chinese. "No stealee. You no thinkee? Chinaman no thinkee stealee!" he said, earnestly.
-ee⁴
suffix
- Alternative form of -y (infinitive suffix).-y
