-ese
-ese
a suffix forming adjectival derivatives of place names, especially countries or cities; frequently used nominally to denote the inhabitants of the place or their language: Faroese; Japanese; Vietnamese; Viennese. By analogy with such language names, -ese, occurs in coinages denoting in a disparaging, often facetious way a characteristic jargon, style, or accent: Brooklynese; bureaucratese; journalese; computerese.
Origin:
probably orig. < Italian -ese, later representing Spanish, Portuguese -es, French -ais, -ois, all < Latin -ēnsem -ensis
probably orig. < Italian -ese, later representing Spanish, Portuguese -es, French -ais, -ois, all < Latin -ēnsem -ensis
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To -ese
00:10
-ese
is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
| -ese | |
| —suffix forming adjectives, —suffix forming nouns | |
| indicating place of origin, language, or style: Cantonese; Japanese; journalese | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
-ese
suffix from O.Fr. -eis (modern Fr. -ois, -ais), from V.L., from L. -ensem "belonging to" or "originating in."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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