EE

¹

1. a proportional shoe width size narrower than EEE and wider than E.

-ee

²

1. a suffix forming from transitive verbs nouns which denote a person who is the object or beneficiary of the act specified by the verb ( addressee; employee; grantee ); recent formations now also mark the performer of an act, with the base being an intransitive verb ( escapee; returnee; standee ) or, less frequently, a transitive verb ( attendee ) or another part of speech ( absentee; refugee ).

e.e.

³

abbreviation for

1. errors excepted.

E.E.

⁴

abbreviation for

1. Early English.
2. electrical engineer.
3. electrical engineering.

ee

¹

the internet domain name for

1. Estonia

EE

²

abbreviation for

1. Early English
2. electrical engineer(ing)
3. (in New Zealand) ewe equivalent

e.e.

³

abbreviation for

1. errors excepted

ee

⁴

/ iː /

noun

1. a Scot word for eye 1

-ee

⁵

suffix forming nouns

1. indicating a person who is the recipient of an action (as opposed, esp in legal terminology, to the agent, indicated by -or or -er )

   lessee

   grantee

   assignee

2. indicating a person in a specified state or condition

   absentee

   employee

3. indicating a diminutive form of something

   bootee

Word History and Origins

Origin of EE¹

< French -é, (masculine), -ée (feminine), past participle endings < Latin -ātus, -āta -ate ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of EE¹

via Old French -e, -ee, past participial endings, from Latin -ātus, -āta -ate ¹

Example Sentences

But EE was clear this request should come from the Met - not the victim.

From BBC

They also said they’d check with the original officer if they’d approached EE to identify the withheld number - they hadn’t.

From BBC

The two largest players in the market are currently EE and 02 - Mr Pescatore said a merged Vodafone and Three would be in a better place to take them on.

From BBC

The mobile phone network EE recommends that children below the age of 11 shouldn’t have smartphones at all.

From BBC

And this week mobile network EE waded into the debate by advising parents not to allow their under-11s smartphones at all.

From BBC

Words That Use -ee

What does -ard mean?

The suffix -ee is used to denote nouns related to the object or beneficiary of an act or the performer of an act. It is often used in everyday and technical terms.

The form -ee comes from the French suffixes –é (masculine) and ée (feminine), which are used to designate past participles, much like how -ed is used in English. The suffixes –é and ée come from Latin -ātus (masculine) and -āta (feminine), of the same meaning.

Examples of -ee

A common word that uses the suffix -ee is absentee, “a person who is absent, especially from work or school.”

The word absent- here means “to take or keep (oneself) away.” The suffix -ee denotes the performer of an act. Absentee literally translates to “someone who takes or keeps oneself away.”

What are some words that use the combining form -ee?

• asylee
• devotee
• employee (using the equivalent form of -ee in French)
• parolee
• trainee
• tutee

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

• -ed
• -eer

Not every word that ends with the exact letters -ee, such as tree or bee, is necessarily using the suffix -ee to denote the performer of an act. Learn where the word bee comes from at our entry for the word.

Break it down!

Given the meaning of the suffix -ee, what does employee literally mean?