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-ery or -ry

suff.

1. A place for: bakery.

2. A collection or class: finery.

3. A state or condition: slavery.

4. Act; practice: bribery.

5. Characteristics or qualities of: snobbery.

[Middle English -erie, from Old French : -er, agent suff. (partly from -ier; see -ER¹, and partly from -ere, -eor; see -OR¹) + -ie, noun suff.; see -Y².]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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