-ed

suffix

Etymology: From Middle English -ed, from Old English -od (adjective suffix), from Proto-Germanic *-ōdaz, from Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos. While identical in appearance to the past participle of class 2 weak verbs, this suffix was attached directly to nouns without any intervening verb. Cognate with Latin -ātus (whence also a doublet -ate), Proto-Slavic *-atъ.

1. Used to form possessional adjectives from nouns, in the sense of having the object represented by the noun.

   “point + -ed → pointed”

   “horn + -ed → horned”

2. As an extension of the above, used to form possessional adjectives from adjective-noun pairs.

   “red + hair + -ed → red-haired”

   “left + hand + -ed → left-handed”