(also 3–7 -ie, 4–6 -ye) represents ultimately, through F. -ie, Com. Romanic -ía = L. -īa, which comprised under one graphic form the Greek suffixes -ία and - εια, as in L. mania = Gr. μανία, whence F. manie, ME. MANIE, L. sympathīa = Gr. συμπάθεια, whence F. sympathie, Eng. SYMPATHY. Romanic -ía displaced L. -ĭa and became a living formative for abstract nouns of quality or condition; e.g., in OF. from corteis (COURTEOUS) was formed corteisie COURTESY, from fol (FOOL), folie FOLLY, from gelos (JEALOUS), gelosie JEALOUSY, and the like. When learned adoptions were made of L. nouns in -ĭa, this suffix was also represented by -ie, and so assimilated to -ĭa; e.g., F. furie FURY, ad. L. furia (whence also organic OF. fuire). In AF. preference was given to such forms as these over popular or semi-popular forms, e.g., AF. accidie, glorie, estorie, victorie = central F. accide, gloire, estoire, victoire, L. or med.L. accīdia, glōria, historia (Gr. ἱστορία), victōria; it is the AF. forms of such words that were adopted into English (see ACCIDIE, GLORY, STORY, VICTORY).
There were various new formations in late or med.L., in Romanic, or in individual Romance languages; examples are Romanic *libraría LIBRARY, *poesía (for poesis) POESY, OF. navie NAVY.
This suffix has never been in English a prolific formative, but from time to time new coinages have been made, e.g., in the 14th cent. beggerie BEGGARY and in the 16th COOPERY (= cooper’s work or ware), f. beggar and cooper, both doubtless furthered by the prevalence of the suffix -ERY. Nonce-words like orphany and tenanty are of doubtful status, but the correspondence of adjs. in -ic and -ous to sbs. in -y has made possible in modern times the formation after Gr. types of such words as brachycephaly, gymnospermy, synchrony, syntony from brachycephalic, gymnospermous, synchronous, syntonic. The domain of the suffix is much enlarged by its constituting the final element of many compound suffixes, which receive separate treatment in this Dictionary in their alphabetical places; e.g., -ACY, -CY, -ERY, -GRAPHY, -LATRY, -LOGY, -MACHY, -PATHY, -PHAGY, -PHILY, -RY, -TOMY, -TONY.
Many important sbs. having this suffix appear as English adoptions of French words in the 13th century, as barony, blasphemy, company, courtesy, felony, folly, jealousy, litany, story, villainy; others, such as comedy and tragedy, fury, glory, harmony, honesty, library, melancholy, memory, misery, navy, victory date from the 14th century; in the 15th and 16th centuries another series of borrowings from French or from Latin appears, such as family, industry, irony, liturgy, modesty.
The majority denote a state, condition, or quality; others denote an activity or a result of it, as blasphemy, felony, fury, harmony, history, liturgy, memory, phantasy, poesy, victory. From either signification a definitely concrete meaning may be readily developed, which is found in barony (= baronial domain, body of barons), company, family, library, navy, sacristy, etc. The concrete application is abundantly illustrated also by names of countries, as † Armony (Armenia), Italy, † Syrie (Syria), Brittany; cf. -IA suffix1.
