-ful

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See also: ful, fúl, fûl, fül, and ful-

English

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Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /fʊl/, /fəl/, [fl̩]

Etymology 1

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Inherited from Middle English -ful, -full, from Old English -ful, -full (full of; -ful), from Proto-Germanic *-fullaz (-ful), from Proto-Germanic *fullaz (full); see full. Cognate with Scots -fu, Saterland Frisian -ful (-ful), West Frisian -fol (-ful), Dutch -vol (-ful), German -voll (-ful), Swedish -full (-ful), Danish -fuld (-ful), Icelandic -fullur, -fyllur (-ful).

Suffix

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-ful

  1. Used to form adjectives from nouns, with the sense of being full of, tending to, or thoroughly possessing the quality expressed by the noun.
    sin + ‎-ful → ‎sinful
Synonyms
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Antonyms
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Derived terms
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Translations
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Etymology 2

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Inherited from Middle English -ful, from Old English -ful, -full, from Proto-Germanic *fullō, *fullijô (filling).

Suffix

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-ful

  1. Used to form nouns from nouns meaning “as much as can be held by what is denoted by the noun”
    bowl + ‎-ful → ‎bowlful
    hand + ‎-ful → ‎handful
Usage notes
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The plural is formed by pluralizing the noun (e.g., librariesful) or by simply suffixing -s (e.g., libraryfuls).

Derived terms
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Translations
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See also

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  • (having a considerable amount of): -some

Anagrams

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Middle English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Inherited from Old English -ful, -full (full of; -ful), from Proto-West Germanic *-full, Proto-Germanic *-fullaz (-ful), from Proto-Germanic *fullaz (full). The use of the ending to denote nouns originates in the reanalysis of ful modifying a noun as being part of the noun itself, e.g. "cuppe ful" as "cuppe-ful".

Pronunciation

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Suffix

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-ful

  1. Appended to nouns (or, rarely, adjectives and adverbs) to form adjectives denoting the experience or induction of an attitude, internal state or quality.
  2. Appended to nouns referring to containers or vessels, denoting the quantity that the given vessel is capable of holding.

Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • English: -ful
  • Scots: -fu

References

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Old English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Proto-Germanic *-fullaz (-ful), from Proto-Germanic *fullaz (full).

Pronunciation

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Suffix

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-ful

  1. full of; -ful

Declension

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Derived terms

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Descendants

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Saterland Frisian

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Suffix

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-ful

  1. Used to form adjectives from nouns; -ful