Etymology Explorer › French

Where does “-if” come from?

-if (French) comes from Middle French -if, from Old French -if, from Latin -īvus, from Proto-Indo-European -iHwós, from Proto-Indo-European -wós — Creates adjectives from verb stems.

-if (French): -ive; used in forming adjectives denoting...

Definitions

  1. -ive; used in forming adjectives denoting...

Ancestry of “-if”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle French-if-ive
2Old French-if-ive
3Latin-īvus—
4Proto-Indo-European-iHwós—
5Proto-Indo-European-wósCreates adjectives from verb stems

Words derived from “-if”

  • effective
  • effectively
  • effectiveness
  • ineffective
  • discursive
  • plaintive
  • convulsive
  • evasive
  • convulsively
  • plaintively
  • ineffectiveness
  • discursively
  • evasively
  • assimilative
  • massif
  • electroconvulsive
  • ineffectively
  • effectivity
  • evasiveness
  • discursiveness
  • discursivity
  • plaintiveness
  • nondiscursive
  • nonconvulsive
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -wós →