-our
English
Suffix
-our
- Obsolete spelling of -or.
Middle English
Etymology 1
From Old French -eor, from Latin -ātor; reinforced by Old French -or and its source, Latin -or, -ōrem.
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /-ˈuːr/[1], /-ur/, /-ər/
Suffix
-our
- Forms agent nouns from other nouns or verbs, usually of Romance origin.[2]
- (no longer productive) Reflects a variety of other Old French deverbal formations.
Usage notes
- This suffix is sometimes confused with -er and -ere, especially in Late Middle English. For forms stemming from that confusion, see those entries.
Derived terms
Middle English terms suffixed with -our
Descendants
References
- ^ Sandved, Arthur (1985), “9. Derivational Suffixes”, in Introduction to Chaucerian English (Chaucer Studies; 11), Part II: Morphology, Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 41.
- ^ “-ǒur, suf.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Etymology 2
Suffix
-our
- alternative form of -ure
Old French
Suffix
-our
- (often late Anglo-Norman) alternative form of -or (both etymologies)