-fysuffix

Forming verbs. The older English verbs in -fy are adoptions of French vbs in -fier, which are either adapted from Latin verbs in -ficāre or formed on the analogy of verbs so originating. (The form -fier was used as the representative of Latin -ficāre on the analogy of words like saintefier:—sanctificāre.) The Latin verbs in -ficāre were originally derivatives of adjectives in -fic-us (see -fic suffix), though subsequently the suffix could be used to form verbs without the intervention of an adjective. They may be divided into three classes (corresponding to three classes of adjectives in -ficus: see -fic suffix), all of which are represented by adapted words in English: (1) verbs < nouns, with the sense ‘to make, produce’, as pācificāre (originally intransitive to make peace) pacify, ædificāre edify, or ‘to make or convert into something’, as deificāre deify; (2) < adjectives, with the sense ‘to bring into a certain state’, as santificāre sanctify; (3) < verb-stems, with causative sense, as horrificāre horrify. In medieval Latin there was a tendency to substitute -ficāre for -facĕre in the few Latin verbs so ending, and hence French and English verbs in -fier, -fy sometimes correspond to Latin verbs in -facĕre; e.g. French stupéfier (but in past participle stupéfait as well as stupéfié) stupefy, Old French satisfier (but modern French satisfaire) satisfy, French liquéfier liquefy, French rubéfier rubefy, medieval Latin caleficare calefy. Exc. in the case of these few verbs the ending has normally the form -ify (for the reason see -fic suffix). It is now used as the regular rendering of -ficāre in new words adopted from Latin or formed on assumable Latin types, and is also freely added to English adjectives and nouns to form verbs, mostly somewhat jocular or trivial, with the senses: ‘to make a specified thing’, as speechify; ‘to assimilate to the character of something’ (chiefly in past participle, as countrified); ‘to invest with certain attributes’, as Frenchify. (A large proportion of these verbs are from nouns and adjectives ending in -y or -ey, the suffix then having the form -fy instead of the usual -ify. An early example is beautify, but the analogy on which this word was formed is not clear.) In a few cases the suffix has been quite irregularly added to vb. stems, but the words are either obsolete, as dedify, hindrify, ornify, or merely jocular or illiterate, as argufy. The noun of action related to verbs in -ify normally ends in -ification, though, by confusion of suffix, petrifaction is used in English where French has more correctly pétrification. The words in which -fy represents Latin -facĕre having their corresponding nouns of action ending in -faction. The following examples illustrate the freedom with which this suffix has been used in the formation of nonce-words.