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-ish1

a suffix used to form adjectives from nouns, with the sense of “belonging to” (British; Danish; English; Spanish); “after the manner of,” “having the characteristics of,” “like” (babyish; girlish; mulish); “addicted to,” “inclined or tending to” (bookish; freakish); “near or about” (fiftyish; sevenish).

2.	a suffix used to form adjectives from other adjectives, with the sense of “somewhat,” “rather” (oldish; reddish; sweetish).

[Origin: ME; OE -isc; c. G -isch, Goth -isks, Gk -iskos; akin to -esque

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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-ish2

a suffix occurring in i-stem verbs borrowed from French: ravish.

[Origin: < F -iss-, extended s. of verbs with infinitives in -ir ≪ L -isc-, in inceptive verbs

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

-ish
suff.

Of, relating to, or being: Swedish.
1. Characteristic of: girlish.
2. Having the usually undesirable qualities of: childish.
Approximately; somewhat: greenish.
Tending toward; preoccupied with: selfish.

[Middle English, from Old English -isc.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
-ish

adj. suffix, from O.E. -isc, common Gmc. (cf. O.N. -iskr, Ger. -isch, Goth. -isks), cognate with Gk. dim. suffix -iskos. Colloquially attached to hours to denote approximation, 1916.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

-ish

-esque\ [F., fr. It. -isco. Cf. -ish.] A suffix of certain words from the French, Italian, and Spanish. It denotes manner or style; like; as, arabesque, after the manner of the Arabs.

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-ish

Es*tab"lish\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Established; p. pr. & vb. n. Establishing.] [OE. establissen, OF. establir, F. ['e]tablir, fr. L. stabilire, fr. stabilis firm, steady, stable. See Stable, a., -ish, and cf. Stablish.]

1. To make stable or firm; to fix immovably or firmly; to set (a thing) in a place and make it stable there; to settle; to confirm.

So were the churches established in the faith. --Acts xvi. 5.

The best established tempers can scarcely forbear being borne down. --Burke.

Confidence which must precede union could be established only by consummate prudence and self-control. --Bancroft.

2. To appoint or constitute for permanence, as officers, laws, regulations, etc.; to enact; to ordain.

By the consent of all, we were established The people's magistrates. --Shak.

Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed. --Dan. vi. 8.

3. To originate and secure the permanent existence of; to found; to institute; to create and regulate; -- said of a colony, a state, or other institutions.

He hath established it [the earth], he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited. --Is. xlv. 18.

Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and establisheth a city by iniquity! --Hab. ii. 12.

4. To secure public recognition in favor of; to prove and cause to be accepted as true; as, to establish a fact, usage, principle, opinion, doctrine, etc.

At the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established. --Deut. xix. 15.

5. To set up in business; to place advantageously in a fixed condition; -- used reflexively; as, he established himself in a place; the enemy established themselves in the citadel.

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-ish

Flour"ish\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Flourished; p. pr. & vb. n. Flourishing.] [OE. florisshen, flurisshen, OF. flurir, F. fleurir, fr. L. florere to bloom, fr. flos, floris, flower. See Flower, and -ish.]

1. To grow luxuriantly; to increase and enlarge, as a healthy growing plant; a thrive.

A tree thrives and flourishes in a kindly . . . soil. --Bp. Horne.

2. To be prosperous; to increase in wealth, honor, comfort, happiness, or whatever is desirable; to thrive; to be prominent and influental; specifically, of authors, painters, etc., to be in a state of activity or production.

When all the workers of iniquity do flourish. --Ps. xcii 7

Bad men as frequently prosper and flourish, and that by the means of their wickedness. --Nelson.

We say Of those that held their heads above the crowd, They flourished then or then. --Tennyson.

3. To use florid language; to indulge in rhetorical figures and lofty expressions; to be flowery.

They dilate . . . and flourish long on little incidents. --J. Watts.

4. To make bold and sweeping, fanciful, or wanton movements, by way of ornament, parade, bravado, etc.; to play with fantastic and irregular motion.

Impetuous spread The stream, and smoking flourished o'er his head. --Pope.

5. To make ornamental strokes with the pen; to write graceful, decorative figures.

6. To execute an irregular or fanciful strain of music, by way of ornament or prelude.

Why do the emperor's trumpets flourish thus? --Shak.

7. To boast; to vaunt; to brag. --Pope.

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-ish

Fur"bish\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Furbished; p. pr. & vb. n. Furbishing.] [OE. forbischen, OF. forbir, furbir, fourbir, F. fourbir, fr. OHG. furban to clean. See -ish.] To rub or scour to brightness; to clean; to burnish; as, to furbish a sword or spear. --Shak.

Furbish new the name of John a Gaunt. --Shak.

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-ish

Fur"nish\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Furnished; p. pr. & vb. n. Furnishing.] [OF. furnir, fornir, to furnish, finish, F. fournir; akin to Pr. formir, furmir, fromir, to accomplish, satisfy, fr. OHG. frumjan to further, execute, do, akin to E. frame. See Frame, v. t., and -ish.]

1. To supply with anything necessary, useful, or appropriate; to provide; to equip; to fit out, or fit up; to adorn; as, to furnish a family with provisions; to furnish one with arms for defense; to furnish a Cable; to furnish the mind with ideas; to furnish one with knowledge or principles; to furnish an expedition or enterprise, a room or a house.

That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. --2 Tim. iii. 17,

2. To offer for use; to provide (something); to give (something); to afford; as, to furnish food to the hungry: to furnish arms for defense.

Ye are they . . . that furnish the drink offering unto that number. --Is. lxv. 11.

His writings and his life furnish abundant proofs that he was not a man of strong sense. --Macaulay.

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-ish

Gar"nish\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Garnished; p. pr. & vb. n. Garnishing.] [OE. garnischen, garnissen, OF. garnir to provide, strengthen, prepare, garnish, warn, F. garnir to provide, furnish, garnish, -- of German origin; cf. OHG. warn[=o]n to provide, equip; akin to G. wahren to watch, E. aware, ware, wary, and cf. also E. warn. See Wary, -ish, and cf. Garment, Garrison.]

1. To decorate with ornamental appendages; to set off; to adorn; to embellish.

All within with flowers was garnished. --Spenser.

2. (Cookery) To ornament, as a dish, with something laid about it; as, a dish garnished with parsley.

3. To furnish; to supply.

4. To fit with fetters. [Cant] --Johnson.

5. (Law) To warn by garnishment; to give notice to; to garnishee. See Garnishee, v. t. --Cowell.

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-ish

Im*pov"er*ish\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Impoverished; p. pr. & vb. n. Impoverishing.] [OF. empovrir; pref. em- (L. in) + povre poor, F. pauvre; cf. OF. apovrir, F. appauvrir, where the prefix is a-, L. ad. Cf. Empoverish, and see Poor, and -ish.]

1. To make poor; to reduce to poverty or indigence; as, misfortune and disease impoverish families.

2. To exhaust the strength, richness, or fertility of; to make sterile; as, to impoverish land.

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-ish

-ish\ [AS. -isc; akin to G. -isch, OHG. -isc, Goth. & Dan. -isk, Gr. ?. Cf. -esque.] A suffix used to from adjectives from nouns and from adjectives. It denotes relation, resemblance, similarity, and sometimes has a diminutive force; as, selfish, boyish, brutish; whitish, somewhat white.

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-ish

-ish\ [OE. -issen, fr. F. -is, -iss- (found in the present particle, etc., of certain verbs, as finir to finish, fleurir to flourish), corresponding to L. -escere, an inchoative ending.] A verb ending, originally appearing in certain verbs of French origin; as, abolish, cherish, finish, furnish, garnish, impoverish.

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-ish

Lan"guish\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Languished; p. pr. & vb. n. Languishing.] [OE. languishen, languissen, F. languir, L. languere; cf. Gr. ? to slacken, ? slack, Icel. lakra to lag behind; prob. akin to E. lag, lax, and perh. to E. slack.See -ish.]

1. To become languid or weak; to lose strength or animation; to be or become dull, feeble or spiritless; to pine away; to wither or fade.

We . . . do languish of such diseases. --2 Esdras viii. 31.

Cease, fond nature, cease thy strife, And let me landguish into life. --Pope.

For the fields of Heshbon languish. --Is. xvi. 8.

2. To assume an expression of weariness or tender grief, appealing for sympathy. --Tennyson.

Syn: To pine; wither; fade; droop; faint.

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-ish

Nour"ish\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Nourished; p. pr. & vb. n. Nourishing.] [OE. norisen, norischen, OF. nurir, nurrir, norir, F. norrir, fr. L. nutrire. Cf. Nurse, Nutriment, and see -ish.]

1. To feed and cause to grow; to supply with matter which increases bulk or supplies waste, and promotes health; to furnish with nutriment.

He planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it. --Is. xliv. 14.

2. To support; to maintain.

Whiles I in Ireland nourish a mighty band. --Shak.

3. To supply the means of support and increase to; to encourage; to foster; as, to nourish rebellion; to nourish the virtues. "Nourish their contentions." --Hooker.

4. To cherish; to comfort.

Ye have nourished your hearts. --James v. 5.

5. To educate; to instruct; to bring up; to nurture; to promote the growth of in attainments. --Chaucer.

Nourished up in the words of faith. --1 Tim. iv. 6.

Syn: To cherish; feed; supply. See Nurture.

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-ish

Out*land"ish\, a. [AS. ?tlendisc foreign. See Out, Land, and -ish.]

1. Foreign; not native.

Him did outlandish women cause to sin. --Neh. xiii. 26.

Its barley water and its outlandish wines. --G. W. Cable.

2. Hence: Not according with usage; strange; rude; barbarous; uncouth; clownish; as, an outlandish dress, behavior, or speech.

Something outlandish, unearthy, or at variance with ordinary fashion. --Hawthorne. --Out*land"ish*ly, adv. -- Out*land"ish*ness, n.

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-ish

Per"ish\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Perished; p. pr. & vb. n. Perishing.] [OE. perissen, perisshen, F. p['e]rir, p. pr. p['e]rissant, L. perire to go or run through, come to nothing, perish; per through + ire to go. Cf. Issue, and see -ish.] To be destroyed; to pass away; to become nothing; to be lost; to die; hence, to wither; to waste away.

I perish with hunger! --Luke xv. 17.

Grow up and perish, as the summer fly. --Milton.

The thoughts of a soul that perish in thinking. --Locke.

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-ish

Plan"ish\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Planished; p. pr. & vb. n. Planishing.] [OF. planir, F. planer. See Plane, v., and -ish.] To make smooth or plane, as a metallic surface; to condense, toughen, and polish by light blows with a hammer.

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-ish

Pol"ish\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Polished; p. pr. & vb. n. Polishing.] [F. polir, L. polire. Cf. Polite, -ish]

1. To make smooth and glossy, usually by friction; to burnish; to overspread with luster; as, to polish glass, marble, metals, etc.

2. Hence, to refine; to wear off the rudeness, coarseness, or rusticity of; to make elegant and polite; as, to polish life or manners. --Milton.

To polish off, to finish completely, as an adversary. [Slang] --W. H. Russell.

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-ish

Pub"lish\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Published; p. pr. & vb. n. Publishing.] [F. publier, L. publicare, publicatum. See Public, and -ish.]

1. To make public; to make known to mankind, or to people in general; to divulge, as a private transaction; to promulgate or proclaim, as a law or an edict.

Published was the bounty of her name. --Chaucer.

The unwearied sun, from day to day, Does his Creator's power display, And publishes to every land The work of an almighty hand. --Addison.

2. To make known by posting, or by reading in a church; as, to publish banns of marriage.

3. To send forth, as a book, newspaper, musical piece, or other printed work, either for sale or for general distribution; to print, and issue from the press.

4. To utter, or put into circulation; as, to publish counterfeit paper. [U.S.]

To publish a will (Law), to acknowledge it before the witnesses as the testator's last will and testament.

Syn: To announce; proclaim; advertise; declare; promulgate; disclose; divulge; reveal. See Announce.

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-ish

Pun"ish\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Punished; p. pr. & vb. n. Punishing.] [OE. punischen, F. punir, from L. punire, punitum, akin to poena punishment, penalty. See Pain, and -ish.]

1. To impose a penalty upon; to afflict with pain, loss, or suffering for a crime or fault, either with or without a view to the offender's amendment; to cause to suffer in retribution; to chasten; as, to punish traitors with death; a father punishes his child for willful disobedience.

A greater power Now ruled him, punished in the shape he sinned. --Milton.

2. To inflict a penalty for (an offense) upon the offender; to repay, as a fault, crime, etc., with pain or loss; as, to punish murder or treason with death.

3. To injure, as by beating; to pommel. [Low]

Syn: To chastise; castigate; scourge; whip; lash; correct; discipline. See Chasten.

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-ish

Rav"ish\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ravished; p. pr. & vb. n. Ravishing.] [OE. ravissen, F. ravir, fr. L. rapere to snatch or tear away, to ravish. See Rapacious, Rapid, and -ish.]

1. To seize and carry away by violence; to snatch by force.

These hairs which thou dost ravish from my chin Will quicken, and accuse thee. --Shak.

This hand shall ravish thy pretended right. --Dryden.

2. To transport with joy or delight; to delight to ecstasy. "Ravished . . . for the joy." --Chaucer.

Thou hast ravished my heart. --Cant. iv. 9.

3. To have carnal knowledge of (a woman) by force, and against her consent; to rape. --Shak.

Syn: To transport; entrance; enrapture; delight; violate; deflour; force.

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-ish

Re*plen"ish\ (r?-pl?n"?sh), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Replenished (-?sht); p. pr. & vb. n. Replenishing.] [OE. replenissen, OF. replenir; L. pref. re- re- + plenus full. See Full, -ish, and cf. Replete.]

1. To fill again after having been diminished or emptied; to stock anew; hence, to fill completely; to cause to abound.

Multiply and replenish the earth. --Gen. i. 28.

The waters thus With fish replenished, and the air with fowl. --Milton.

2. To finish; to complete; to perfect. [Obs.]

We smothered The most replenished sweet work of nature. --Shak.

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-ish

Sub*mon"ish\, v. t. [L. submonere. See Summon, and -ish.] To suggest; to prompt. [R.] "The submonishing inclinations of my senses." --T. Granger.

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-ish

Tar"nish\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Tarnished; p. pr. & vb. n. Tarnishing.] [F. ternir, fr. OHG. tarnen to darken, to conceal, hide; akin to OS. dernian to hide, AS. dernan, dyrnan, OHG. tarni hidden, OS. derni, AS. derne, dyrne. Cf. Dern, a., and see -ish.] To soil, or change the appearance of, especially by an alternation induced by the air, or by dust, or the like; to diminish, dull, or destroy the luster of; to sully; as, to tarnish a metal; to tarnish gilding; to tarnish the purity of color. "Tarnished lace." --Fuller. Used also figuratively; as, to tarnish one's honor.

Syn: To sully; stain; dim.

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-ish

Van"ish\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Vanished; p. pr. & vb. n. Vanishing.] [OE. vanissen, OF. vanir (in comp.): cf. OF. envanir, esvanir, esvanu["i]r, F. s'['e]vanouir; fr. L. vanus empty, vain; cf. L. vanescere, evanescere, to vanish. See Vain, and cf. Evanescent,-ish.]

1. To pass from a visible to an invisible state; to go out of sight; to disappear; to fade; as, vapor vanishes from the sight by being dissipated; a ship vanishes from the sight of spectators on land.

The horse vanished . . . out of sight. --Chaucer.

Go; vanish into air; away! --Shak.

The champions vanished from their posts with the speed of lightning. --Sir W. Scott.

Gliding from the twilight past to vanish among realities. --Hawthorne.

2. To be annihilated or lost; to pass away. "All these delights will vanish." --Milton.

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