1617
-ette /et/ (in nouns) 1 a small ——: a kitchenette (=a small kitchen) | (infml) a snackette (=a very small meal) 2 a female ——: an usherette (=a female USHER) 3 not real ——; IMITATION: flanellette | chairs covered with leatherette
-ey /i/ (the form used for -Y especially after y): clayey soil
-fashion /'fæʃn/ (in adverbs) in the way of a ——: like a ——; They ate Indian-fashion, using their fingers.
-fold /'fəʊld/ (in adjectives and adverbs) of or by the stated number of times or kinds: A window has a twofold purpose – it allows light into the room and lets people see out. | The value of the house has increased fourfold. (=it is now worth four times as much as before)
-free /fri:/ (in adjectives and adverbs) without ——: a salt-free diet | a trouble-free journey | We bought the cigarettes duty-free. | They live in the house rent-free.
-friendly /'frendli/ (in adjectives) not difficult for ——s to use; helpful to ——s: a user-friendly computer | a customer-friendly shopping environment
-ful¹ /fʊl/ (in adjectives) 1 full of ——s: an eventful day 2 having the quality of ——; causing ——: restful colours | Is it painful? —fully (in adverbs): shouting cheerfully
-ful² /fʊl/ (in nouns) 1 the amount of a substance needed to fill the stated container: two cupfuls of milk | He smoked a whole packetful of cigarettes. 2 as much as can be carried by, contained in etc the stated part of the body: an armful of flowers | She drank a few mouthfuls of tea. 3 a place or space filled with people or things: a shelfful of books | a roomful of people
USAGE The plural of nouns ending in -ful can be formed in either of two ways. Both basketfuls and basketsful are correct, but the second is rather old-fashioned now.
-fy /faɪ/ (in verbs) -IFY
-gamy /'gæmi/ especially tech (in [U] nouns) marriage to the stated number or kind of people: bigamy (=being married to two people): monogamy —gamous (in adjectives)
-genarian /ˌdʒenə'riən/ (in nouns and adjectives) (someone) who is the stated number of DECADES (=periods of 10 years) old: an octogenarian (=between 80 and 89 years old)
-gon /gən; strong gɒn||gɑ:n; strong gɑn/ (in nouns) a shape with the stated number of sides and angles: a hexagon (=with six sides) | a polygon (=with many sides)
-gram /græm/ (in nouns) a message delivered as an amusing surprise: On his birthday we sent him a kissagram. (=an unknown girl who was paid to deliver him a message and kiss him)
-head /hed/ (in nouns) 1 the top of a ——: a pithead (=the top of a coalmine) 2 the point of origin of a ——; SOURCE: a fountainhead
-high /haɪ/ (in adjectives) having the stated height: The wall was about chest-high. (=as high as one's chest) | a 7000-metre-high mountain
-hood /hʊd/ (in nouns) the state or time of being (a) ——: childhood | manhood | likelihood
-i /i/ plural -is /i:z/ — (in nouns and adjectives) (a person or the language) of the stated place, especially in Asia: two Pakistanis | speakers of Nepali | the Israeli army
-ial /iəl/ (in adjectives) -AL (1): a managerial job (=with the duties of a manager)
-ian /iən/ (in adjectives and nouns) -AN: Dickensian characters (=like those in Dickens's books) | a librarian (=someone who works in a library)
-iana /ˌiænə||iːənə/ also -ana – (in nouns) a collection of objects, papers etc connected with ——: Churchilliana | Shakespeariana
-ibility /ˌibɪləti/ (in nouns) -ABILITY: invincibility
-ible /'ibəl/ (in adjectives) -ABLE: irreversible
-ic /ɪk/ 1 (in adjectives) of, like, or connected with ——: photographic (=of photography) | an alcoholic drink (=containing alcohol) | polysyllabic (=containing several SYLLABLES) | pelvic (=of the pelvis) | Byronic (=like or connected with the poet Byron) 2 (in nouns) someone on whom the stated thing has an effect: an alcoholic (=someone who cannot stop drinking alcohol) —ically /-kli/ (in adverbs): photographically
USAGE There are many adjectives which end in -ic and -ical. Some can end only in -ic: energetic | idealistic | tragic. Some can end only in -ical: grammatical | hysterical | musical. A few can take either ending without changing their meaning: geometric/geometrical | magic/magical | poetic/poetical. Some others can take either ending, but with a difference in meaning: economic and economical | historic and historical.
-ical /'ikəl/ (in adjectives) -IC (1): historical (=of history) | satirical —ically (in adverbs): historically
-ician /i'ʃən/ (in nouns) a skilled worker who deals with ——: a beautician (=someone who gives beauty treatments) | a technician
-icide /'saɪd/ also -cide – (in nouns) killer; killing: insecticide (=chemical substance for killing insects) | suicide (=act of killing oneself) —cidal (in adjectives) —icidally (in adverbs)
-ics /ɪks/ (in nouns) 1 the scientific study or use of ——: linguistics (=the study of language) | electronics (=the study or making of apparatus that uses CHIPS, TRANSISTORS etc) | acoustics 2 the actions typically done by ——s: athletics (=running, jumping, throwing etc) | acrobatics 3 qualities or events connected with ——: the acoustics (=sound qualities) of the hall
USAGE Words ending in -ics usually take a singular verb when they mean a school subject or an area of study: Acoustics is the study of how sound behaves. | European politics is his special subject. In other cases they usually take a plural verb: The acoustics of this hall are terrible. | His politics are left of centre.
-ide /aɪd/ tech (in nouns) a chemical compound: cyanide | sulphide
-ie /i/ infml (in nouns) -Y² (1): dearie
-iform /'ʃuːm||'ʃɔːrm/ tech (in adjectives) in the shape of a ——; like a ——: cruciform (=cross-shaped)
-ify /'faɪ/ also -fy (in verbs) 1 to make or become ——: to purify (=to make or become pure) | to clarify (=make or become clear) 2 to fill with ——: to terrify (=to fill with terror) 3 infml, often humor or derog a to make ——s: to speechify (=make speeches, use finesounding words) b to cause to be like or typical of a —— or the ——: Frenchified (=like the French)
-in /ɪn/ (in nouns) an activity in which a group of people do something together for a purpose: a sit-in (=where people sit in a place to prevent its usual activity) | a teach-in
-ine /aɪn/ especially fml or tech 1 of or concerning ——s: equine (=of horses) 2 made of, like: crystalline
-ing /ɪŋ/ 1 (forms the present participle of verbs): They're dancing. | to go dancing | a dancing bear —see USAGE 2 (in [U] nouns) the action or process of the stated verb: She hates swimming. | No Parking (on a notice, = do not park here) 3 (in [C] nouns) a a case or example of the stated verb: to hold a meeting b a product or result of the stated verb: a beautiful painting 4 (in nouns) something used to —— or used for making ——s: a silk lining | ten metres or shirting (=cloth for shirts)
USAGE 1 Adjectives which end in -ing show that the noun they describe is the doer or subject of the verb they are formed from: a frightening film (=it frightens people) | She's an interesting writer. (=she interests me) | It was an exciting game. (=it made people feel excited). Adjectives which end in -ed show that the noun they describe is the object of the verb they are formed from: a frightened child (=someone or something has frightened him/her) | an interested audience (=the play/concert interested them) | an excited crowd (=the game made them feel excited). 2 When adjectives ending in -ing are used in certain combinations, different STRESS