Etymology

-y

Today it means: Added to nouns and adjectives to form adjectives meaning “having the quality of”, either “involving the referent” or “analogous to it”. Full definition →

Middle English -y ← Old English -iġ ← Proto-West Germanic *-g
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-y · suffix1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*-kos
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*-īgaz“-y, -ic”
  3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*-g
  4. Old English · inherited from-iġ“-y, -ic”
  5. Middle English · inherited from-y
  6. English today-y

From Middle English -y, -i, from Old English -iġ (“-y, -ic”, suffix), from Proto-West Germanic *-g, from Proto-Germanic *-īgaz (“-y, -ic”), from Proto-Indo-European *-kos, *-ikos, *-iḱos (“-y, -ic”). Cognate with Scots -ie (“-y”), West Frisian -ich (“-y”), Dutch -ig (“-y”), Low German -ig (“-y”), German -ig (“-y”), Swedish -ig (“-y”), Gothic -𐌹𐌲𐍃 (-igs, “-y”), Latin -icus (“-y, -ic”), Ancient Greek -ικός (-ikós), Sanskrit -इक (-ika). Doublet of -ac and -ic.

-y · suffix2

  1. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*-ij-
  2. Old English · inherited from-iġ“-ie, -y”
  3. Middle English · inherited from-ie
  4. Scots · borrowed from-ie
  5. English today-y

Cognate with Scots -ie, being inherited directly from the same source Middle English -ie, -i, from Old English -iġ (“-ie, -y”, diminutive suffix), possibly from Proto-West Germanic *-ij-, *-j- (diminutive suffix). Not related with Dutch -je, -ie, regional Low German -je, which are from Proto-West Germanic *-ikīn (English -kin as in lambkin), nor with German -i, which is from Proto-West Germanic *-īn (English -en as in maiden). The vowel /i/ has an onomatopoeic quality to it, which may reinforce its occurrence in diminutives.

-y · suffix3

  1. Ancient Greek · derived from-ίᾱ
  2. Latin · derived from-ia
  3. Middle French · derived from-ie
  4. Middle English · inherited from-y
  5. English today-y

From Middle English -y, -ie, -ee, -e, from Anglo-Norman and Middle French -ie and -é, from Latin -ia, -ium, -tās, Ancient Greek -ίᾱ (-íā), -ειᾰ (-eiă), -ιον (-ion). Cognate (as far as Latin -ia is involved) with German -ei and Dutch -ij.

-y · suffix4

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*-ōną
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*-ōn
  3. Middle English · inherited from-y
  4. English today-y

Inherited from Middle English -y, -ie, for earlier -ien, from the Old English weak class 2 infinitival suffix -ian, -iġan, by syncope from earlier *-ōjan, North Sea Germanic form of Proto-West Germanic *-ōn, from Proto-Germanic *-ōną; reinforced by the suffix -ian, -ġan in Old English verbs of weak class 1 with roots ending in -r (and the exceptional strong class 6 verb swerian). Compare -en (infinitive ending).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.