-baar

See also: baar, and bår

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch -baer, from Old Dutch *-bāri, from Proto-Germanic *bēriz, which belongs to the verb *beraną (“to bear”). See English bear (verb). Cognate with German -bar, Latin -fer.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /baːr/

Suffix

-baar

1. -able, attaches to verbs to form an adjective that indicates that an action can be performed

   Synonym: -abel

   ‎eten (“to eat”) + ‎-baar → ‎eetbaar (“edible”)

Usage notes

This suffix has become very productive in colloquial language in recent years, which means that -baar may be attached to any verb, even if a term with the same meaning already exists. You may hear nonstandard terms such as begrijpbaar (understandable, standard form begrijpelijk) or doebaar (doable, standard form te doen or uitvoerbaar).

Derived terms

Dutch terms suffixed with -baar

Pennsylvania German

Etymology

From Middle High German -bære, from Old High German -bāri, from Proto-Germanic *bēriz. Compare German -bar, Dutch -baar, Old English -bǣre.

Suffix

-baar

1. -able