-ers
English
editEtymology
editEtymology tree
English -er
English -ers
From -er.
Suffix
edit-ers
- (informal, originally school slang) Used to form slang or colloquial equivalents of words.
- (informal, originally school slang) Used to form mostly adjectives used informally.
Derived terms
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editAfrikaans
editEtymology
editFrom Dutch -ers, a chiefly dialectal plural morpheme equivalent to standard Dutch -eren (whence Afrikaans -ere).
Pronunciation
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Suffix
edit-ers
- forms the plural of three nouns, all of which denote young creatures
Usage notes
edit- The colloquial plurale tantum goeters (“things, stuff”) is only etymologically an inflection of goed (“a good”), whose true plural is goedere.
- Two other Afrikaans nouns are backformations from plurals originally using the suffix -ers: eier (“egg”, from Dutch ei) and hoender (“chicken”, from Dutch hoen).