-ese
/ˈiz/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.86 in modern English
3
Scrabble Score
3
Letters
2
Syllables
2
Unique Chars
Meaning
suffix
Used to form adjectives and nouns describing things and characteristics of a city, region, or country, such as the people and the language spoken by these people.
suffix
Used to form nouns meaning the jargon or language used by a particular profession or being or in a particular context.
Example Sentences
- "Faroese, Maltese, Milanese, Parmese, Portuguese, Viennese; Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese; Beninese, Congolese, Togolese"
- "journal + -ese → journalese"
- "legal + -ese → legalese"
- "translation + -ese → translationese"
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *-iskos Proto-Germanic *-iskaz Proto-West Germanic *-iskbor. Late Latin -iscus ▲ Vulgar Latin -iscus Latin -ēnsis Old French -eisbor. Middle English -eys English -ese From Middle English -eys, from Old French -eis, from Latin -ēnsis and, less often, Late Latin -iscus. Generally used in place of more common equivalent suffixes such as -er and -an on the model of equivalent terms in Italian and Portuguese, particularly for Italian, Portuguese African, and East Asian places first widely discussed in Portuguese and Latin.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈiz/
- British English: /ˈiːz/