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-ary

  1. forms adjectives in certain cases
L1118960 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ə.ɹi/ / /ɹi/ / /ɛɹ.i/

suffix

Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzijos Latin -āriusder. Middle English -arie English -ary Inherited from Middle English -arie, a back-formation from Latin and French-borrowed adjectives ending respectively in -ārius and -aire (more rarely from Latin adjectives in -āris: see exemplary and lapidary). Doublet of -ar, -eer, -ier, and -yer; see also the related -arian.

  1. Of or pertaining to. Adjectival suffix appended to various words, often nouns, to produce an adjective form. Often added to words of Latin origin, but used with other words also.

    devolution + -ary → devolutionary

  2. Ending of some substantives borrowed or inherited from Latin and French.

    dictionary, plenipotentiary

  3. Having the specified arity.