Definitions
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- suffix An adjective suffix signifying relating or belonging to, of the nature of, tending to.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- suffix An adjective
suffix signifyingrelating orbelonging to, of thenature of,tending to; asaffirmative ,active ,conclusive ,corrective ,diminutive .
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
From Anglo-Norman -if (feminine -ive), from Latin -ivus. Until the fourteenth century all Middle English loanwords from Anglo-Norman ended in -if (compare actif, natif, sensitif, pensif etc.), and under the influence of literary Neolatin both languages introduced the form -ive. Those forms that have not been replaced were subsequently changed to end in -y (compare hasty, from hastif, jolly, from jolif etc.).
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Examples
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