-ese
-ese suffix repr. OF. -eis (mod. -ois, -ais) — L. -ēnsis, -ēns-, which meant ‘belonging to, originating in (a place)’, as hortēnsis, f. hortus garden, prātēnsis, f. prātum meadow, and in many adjs. of local names, as Athēniēnsis Athenian, f. Athēnæ Athens. As a living suffix it forms derivs. of names of countries, as Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese (F. chinois, japonais, portugais) and from some names of foreign towns, as Cantonese, Viennese. Such adjs. are used sb. as names of languages or as designations of peoples.
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