-ory

suffix

suffix ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Suffix
  1. 1
    Added to nouns and verbs (often Latinate) to form adjectives meaning "of", "pertaining to", or "serving for". morpheme

    "excrete + -ory → excretory"

  2. 2
    Added to nouns and verbs (often Latinate) to form nouns meaning "that which pertains to or serves for". morpheme

    "ambulate + -ory → ambulatory"

Synonyms

All synonyms
agealarariumarydrome

Example

More examples

"interrogate + -ory → interrogatory"

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English -orie, from the Latin adjective suffix -tōrius. By surface analysis, -or + -y.

Etymology 2

From the Latin noun suffix -tōrium. By surface analysis, -or + -y.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.