-ery

/əɹi/

suffix

Added to occupational etc. nouns to form other nouns meaning the "art, craft, or practice of."

“bake + -ery → bakery”

Similar
-ing-age
OriginMiddle English -erie ← Anglo-Norman -erie →
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Meanings

-ery1

suffix-ery (noun-forming suffix, countable and uncountable, plural -eries)

plural -eries · alternative -erie · alternative -ry

  1. countableuncountableAdded to occupational etc. nouns to form other nouns meaning the "art, craft, or practice of."

    cook + -ery → cookery

    1 more example

    midwife + -ery → midwifery

  2. countableuncountableAdded to verbs to form nouns meaning "place of" (an art, craft, or practice).

    bake + -ery → bakery

    2 more examples

    distill + -ery → distillery

    join + -ery → joinery

    Synonyms: -ing

  3. countableuncountableAdded to nouns to form other nouns meaning "a class, group, or collection of."

    hose + -ery → hosiery

    2 more examples

    crock + -ery → crockery

    shrub + -ery → shrubbery

    Synonyms: -age, -ing

  4. countableuncountableAdded to nouns to form other nouns meaning "behavior characteristic of."

    snob + -ery → snobbery

    1 more example

    tomfool + -ery → tomfoolery

-ery2

suffix-ery (adjective-forming suffix, comparative more -ery, superlative most -ery)

comparative more -ery · superlative most -ery

  1. rareForming adjectives.

    My neighbors’ children play with me. / They come for me to ease their woes, / Bleedery stumpings of the toes, / Splinters in fingers, at whose base / Angels have left their kissery trace; / Skinned elbows and such bruisery rings, / Or bumpery dots from wood bees’ stings.

    1917, The Christian Advocate, volume XCII, New York, N.Y., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 559, column 1

Synonyms & antonyms

suffixAdded to verbs to form nouns meaning "place of" (an art, craft, or practice).

Similar
-ing

suffixAdded to nouns to form other nouns meaning "a class, group, or collection of."

Similar
-age-ing
Also see
-age-ing-ory

Origin

-ery · suffix

  1. Anglo-Norman-erie
  2. Middle English-erie
  3. English-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.

More words from Middle English, Anglo-Norman

Full word history & related roots →

-ery · suffix

Alteration of -y.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan -eria
  • -eriaplace of art, craft or practice
Esperanto -aro, -eco
  • -aroclass or group, collection of
  • -ecocharacteristic of
  • -ejoplace of art, craft or practice
Finnish -mo
  • -moplace of art, craft or practice
French -erie, -erie
  • -erieclass or group, collection of
  • -erieplace of art, craft or practice
Hungarian -s, -os
  • -sclass or group, collection of
  • -osclass or group, collection of
  • -asclass or group, collection of
  • -esclass or group, collection of
  • -ösclass or group, collection of
  • -áruclass or group, collection of
  • -ságcharacteristic of
  • -ségcharacteristic of
  • -ászatart, craft or practice
  • -észetart, craft or practice
  • -ságart, craft or practice
  • -ségart, craft or practice
Italian -eria
  • -eriaplace of art, craft or practice
Lithuanian -ykla
  • -yklaplace of art, craft or practice
Norwegian Bokmål -ri
  • -riplace of art, craft or practice
Polish -eria, -eria
  • -eriaclass or group, collection of
  • -eriacharacteristic of
  • -eriaart, craft or practice
  • -niaplace of art, craft or practice
  • -eriaorganisation or movement
Portuguese -agem, -aria
  • -agemcharacteristic of
  • -ariaplace of art, craft or practice
Romanian -ărie, -ărie
  • -ărieclass or group, collection of
  • -ărieplace of art, craft or practice
Spanish -ería
  • -eríaplace of art, craft or practice
Cite this entry
APA

-ery. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-ery

MLA

“-ery.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-ery. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “-ery,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-ery.

Source: -ery on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.