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-erij. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
-erij, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
-erij in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
-erij you have here. The definition of the word
-erij will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
-erij, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
Dutch
Etymology
From Old French -erie, a suffix forming abstract nouns. The suffix first occurs in loans from French, but became productive within Dutch. Similar to English -ery, Afrikaans -ery, German -erei, French -erie.
Pronunciation
Suffix
-erij f (plural -erijen)
- an activity
- plagerij (“tease”), vrijerij (“courtship”)
- a place associated with an activity or profession
- brouwerij (“brewery”), mederij (“meadery”)
- a place containing a collection, class or group
- boekerij (“library”)
Usage notes
Many cases of this suffix were probably formed by attaching -ij to agent nouns that already ended in -er, thereby forming a place associated with the agent noun. It may not always be easy to judge whether -erij was attached directly to a verb, or -ij was attached to an agent noun. For example, brouwerij (“brewery”) may be interpreted as a place (-erij) where brewing (brouwen) takes place, but equally as a place (-ij) associated with a brewer (brouwer). Both analyses are probably equally valid, synchronically.
Derived terms