-nis

-nis

1. Appended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being (the adjective)", "the quality of being (the adjective)", or "the measure of being (the adjective)".

From Old Dutch -nissi, -nussi, from Proto-West Germanic *-nassī.

-nis f (plural -nissen)

1. -ment, -ation, -ness

• While a cognate of -ness, this Dutch suffix is not an exact equivalent semantically; for example, it is not restricted to abstract nouns representing states of being but also produces more concrete, countable nouns, particularly action nouns.
• The deverbal suffix -nis proved one of the most productive noun-forming suffixes in Dutch up until 16th century Dutch.^[1] It was a deverbal noun former and formed with verbal stems, infinitives or participles. Nowadays, the suffix -nis “-ness” is either no longer productive or at most marginally productive.
• In a few cases, the suffix carries a neuter gender; for example in vonnis and vuilnis

• -niß, -nüß, -nuß (obsolete)

From Middle High German -nisse, from Old High German -nissī f, -nissi n, from Proto-West Germanic *-nassī. Cognate to English -ness.

• IPA^(key): /nɪs/

• Audio:

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• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

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-nis n (genitive -nisses, plural -nisse)

1. A suffix for deriving nouns from verbs or adjectives.. In some cases the suffix is feminine.

   hindern (“to hinder, to hamper”) → Hindernis (“an obstacle”)

   geheim (“secret”, adjective) → Geheimnis (“a secret”, noun)

-nis f (genitive -nis, plural -nisse)

1. A suffix for deriving nouns from verbs or adjectives, etymologically identical to the preceding.

   erlauben (“to permit”) → Erlaubnis (“permission”)

   finster (“dark”) → Finsternis (“darkness”)

There is no perfect rule to determine whether a noun with the suffix -nis is neuter (→ suffix 1) or feminine (→ suffix 2). The former may be concrete or abstract, whereas the latter are almost exclusively abstract.

-nis

1. alternative form of -nesse

• IPA^(key): /nis/

-nis f

1. alternative form of -nes