[1735–45; square + -ish1]This word is first recorded in the period 1735–45. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: cutoff, influenza, injector, loggia, washboard-ish is a suffix used to form adjectives from nouns, with the sense of “belonging to”(British; Danish; English; Spanish); “after the manner of,” “having the characteristics of,” “like” (babyish; girlish; mulish); “addicted to,” “inclined or tending to” (bookish; freakish); “near or about” (fiftyish; sevenish)