ary

¹

[ air-ee ]

adjective

, Chiefly Midland and Southern U.S.

1. any; anyone.
2. none, not any; nary.

-ary

²

1. a suffix occurring originally in loanwords from Classical and Medieval Latin, on adjectives ( elementary; honorary; stationary; tributary ), personal nouns ( actuary; notary; secretary ), or nouns denoting objects, especially receptacles or places ( library; rosary; glossary ). The suffix has the general sense “pertaining to, connected with” the referent named by the base; it is productive in English, sometimes with the additional senses “contributing to,” “for the purpose of,” and usually forming adjectives:

   complimentary; visionary; revolutionary; inflationary.

-ary

suffix

1. forming adjectives of; related to; belonging to

   cautionary

   rudimentary

2. forming nouns
   1. a person connected with or engaged in

      missionary

   2. a thing relating to; a place for

      commentary

      aviary

Word History and Origins

Origin of ary¹

First recorded in 1810–20; alteration of e'er a ever a, in sense “any”

Origin of ary²

Middle English -arie, from Latin -ārius, -a, -um; English personal nouns reflect -ārius, while objects and places reflect -ārium or -āria. Inherited and adopted French forms of this suffix are -er ², -eer, -ier ², -aire; -er ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of ary¹

from Latin -ārius, -āria, -ārium

Example Sentences

His brother-in-law Ary Freilich said that Mr. Lieberman’s fall occurred at his home in the Riverdale section of the Bronx and that he died at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in Upper Manhattan.

From New York Times

“This is unbelievable, it really is,” midfielder Ary Borges said on social media.

From Seattle Times

He died in a hospital near his Space Coast Florida home, said Max Ary, director of the Stafford Air & Space Museum in Weatherford, Oklahoma.

From Seattle Times

“Tom was involved in so many things that most people were not aware of, such as being known as the ‘Father of Stealth’,” Ary said in an email.

From Seattle Times

And that's what The Pavilion was always meant to be, says Salman Iqbal, the owner of ARY media group, the production company which runs the show.

From BBC

Words That Use -ary

What does -ary mean?

The combining form -ary is a suffix with a variety of meanings. In some words, it is used to denote an object, particularly a receptacle or place. In some other terms, it is used to mean “pertaining to; connected with.” Additionally, in some English terms it means “contributing to” or “for the purpose of.” It is often used in everyday and technical terms.

The form -ary comes from the Latin -ārius and -ārium, meaning “thing connected with or employed in, place for.” By way of French, English has inherited numerous suffixes with similar meanings to that of -ary, including -aire, as in millionaire; -eer, as in engineer; -er, as in archer; or -ier, as in financier. Check out all four entries to learn more.

Examples of -ary

An example of a word you may have encountered that features -ary is library, “a place set apart to contain books, periodicals, and other material for reading.” Library comes from the Latin librārius, which uses the equivalent of the suffix -ary in that language.

The libr- part of the word means “book,” from Latin liber. The -ary part of the word here means “pertaining to; connected with.” Library literally translates to “pertaining to books.”

What are some words that use the equivalent of the combining form -ary in Latin?

• granary
• judiciary
• legendary
• military
• planetary
• rotary

What are some other forms that -ary may be commonly confused with?

• -arch
• -ard
• -art

Not every word that ends with the exact letters -ary, such as luminary or weary, is necessarily using the suffix -ary to denote “pertaining to.” Learn why luminary means “a celestial body” at our entry for the word.

Break it down!

Given the meaning of the suffix -ary, what does planetary literally translate to?