-ery

English · Thesaurus

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-ery¹

  • /əɹi/

Where it comes from

From Middle English -erie, from Anglo-Norman -erie, which is from -ier + -ie; a suffix forming abstract nouns.

The suffix first occurs in loans from Old French into Middle English, but becomes productive within English by the 16th century, in some instances properly a combination of the agent suffix -er with -y as in bakery, brewery, but also as a single suffix in terms like slavery, machinery (which are not derived from slaver or machiner). By surface analysis, -er + -y.

suffix -eries · -erie · -ry

  1. countable, morpheme, uncountable Added to occupational etc. nouns to form other nouns meaning the "art, craft, or practice of." midwife + -ery → midwifery
  2. countable, morpheme, uncountable Added to verbs to form nouns meaning "place of" (an art, craft, or practice). bake + -ery → bakery

    Similar: -ing

  3. countable, morpheme, uncountable Added to nouns to form other nouns meaning "a class, group, or collection of." crock + -ery → crockery

    Similar: -age, -ing

  4. countable, morpheme, uncountable Added to nouns to form other nouns meaning "behavior characteristic of." snob + -ery → snobbery

-ery²

  • /əɹi/

Where it comes from

Alteration of -y.

suffix more -ery · most -ery

  1. morpheme, rare Forming adjectives. My neighbors’ children play with me. / They come for me to ease their woes, / Bleedery stumpings of the toes, / Splinters in fingers, at whose base / Angels have left their kissery trace; / Skinned elbows and such bruisery rings, / Or bumpery dots from wood bees’ stings.

Translations

Every language

suffix place of art, craft or practice

Español-ería
Português-aria
Français-erie
Italiano-eria
Română-ărie

suffix class or group, collection of

Français-erie
Română-ărie

suffix characteristic of

Português-agem

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX
@misc{ery_2026,
  title = {-ery},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/-ery},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}