-ary

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | 596 words | Copyright

-ary suffix repr. L. -ārius ‘pertaining to, connected with’: formed on sbs., as honōrārius HONORARY; on adjs., as prīmārius PRIMARY; on advs., as contrārius CONTRARY. Many of these adjs. were used as sbs.: in the masc., as adversārius ADVERSARY; in the n., as salārium SALARY; and occas. in the fem., as Calvāria, see CALVARY. Since L. -ārius and -āris were repr. in French by -aire, it came about that, when F. words in -aire were adopted in mod. Eng., they received the ending -ary, as militaire MILITARY; cf. -AR.

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T. F. HOAD. "-ary." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

T. F. HOAD. "-ary." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-ary.html

T. F. HOAD. "-ary." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-ary.html

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