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-ling

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-ling¹

  • /lɪŋ/

Where it comes from

From Middle English -ling, from Old English -ling, from Proto-West Germanic *-ling, from Proto-Germanic *-lingaz, a nominal suffix, probably composed of Proto-Germanic *-ilaz (agent/instrumental/diminutive suffix) + Proto-Germanic *-ingaz (patronymic suffix).

Akin to Dutch -ling, German -ling, Icelandic -lingur, Gothic -𐌻𐌹𐌲𐌲𐍃 (-liggs). More at -le, -ing.

suffix -lyng · -lin

  1. morpheme small, immature, miniature

    Similar: -cule, -ee, -el, -et, -ette, -icle, -ie, -kin, -le, -let, -ole, -ule

  2. morpheme follower or resident

-ling²

  • /lɪŋ/

Where it comes from

From Middle English -ling, from Old English -ling, -linga, -lunga (adverbial suffix). Compare -long.

suffix -lings · -lin

  1. idiomatic, morpheme An adverbial suffix denoting manner, direction, or position.

Translations

Every language

suffix Diminutive

Español-ito, -ita, -illo, -illa
日本語子 ko-
中文小 xiǎo-, 崽 -zǎi, -子 -zi
Português-inho
Français-et, -ette, -in, -ine
Deutsch-chen, -lein, -erl
Italiano-ino, -ina, -etto, -etta, -ello, -ella
Română-el, -șor, -uț, -uș, -aș
Русский-ёнок -jónok, -о́нок -ónok, -ок -ok, -ёк -jók

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Cite this
MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX
@misc{ling_2026,
  title = {-ling},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/-ling},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}