-ery

-ery · suffix¹

1. Anglo-Norman · derived from-erie
2. Middle English · inherited from-erie
3. English today-ery

From Middle English -erie, from Anglo-Norman -erie, which is from -ier + -ie; a suffix forming abstract nouns. The suffix first occurs in loans from Old French into Middle English, but becomes productive within English by the 16th century, in some instances properly a combination of the agent suffix -er with -y as in bakery, brewery, but also as a single suffix in terms like slavery, machinery (which are not derived from slaver or machiner). By surface analysis, -er + -y.

-ery · suffix²

Alteration of -y.