-ety

ety English Etymology 1 en expressive In some uses, apparently an alteration of en -edy, as seen in en jaggedy, en raggedy, en scaredy, etc.; equivalent to en -ed -y adjectival. The alteration of -d- to -t- is perhaps due to Scottish influence, where it is common for the past participle of Scots verbs to end in -et/-it rather than -ed as in English. en In other usage, perhaps imitative of repeated action, equivalent to en -et frequentative -y adjectival.-ety 238007 suffix November 2010 In any case, it is used almost exclusively in en 1 or expressive words. Alternative forms en -edy -iddy -ity -oty Suffix unproductive suffixes Added to monosyllabic words, typically verbs or nouns, to form adjectives characteristic of the verb or noun. Often with frequentative force. en jig jiggety en hip-hop hippety-hoppety en yack yackety-yak Also seen in other fanciful compounds. en dig diggety, en hot diggety dog en lick lickety, en lickety-split Derived terms en expressive Etymology 2 en forming nouns Cognate of en -ity 1, ultimately from en la -tās -(i)tās.-ity suffix 100360 December 2020 See more at en -ity. Alternative forms en -ity Suffix noun-forming suffixes Used to indicate qualities or states. en contrary contrariety Usage notes Added to word stems ending in ⟨i⟩ or ⟨y⟩ to avoid a double -ii-, such as contrariety instead of *contrariïty. The effect on pronunciation is (or was originally) dissimilatory, lowering the vowel from /ɪ/ to /ɛ/ following a similarly palatal vowel or semivowel, though for many speakers the vowel of en -ety is pronounced closer to [ɪ] and indistinguishable from en -ity. Derived terms en forming nouns Related terms en -ity en -ty References Anagrams en ety Tye t'ye tey tye yet