Words with the suffix -ship
-ship means “state, condition, office, or skill of”, from Old English -scipe. It makes a word into a noun.
15 examples of the suffix -ship
- friendshipfriend + -shipstate of being friends
- hardshiphard + -shipcondition of being hard
- leadershipleader + -shipoffice or skill of leading
- membershipmember + -shipstate of being a member
- ownershipowner + -shipstate of owning something
- partnershippartner + -shipcondition of being partners
- worshipwor + -shipcondition of great worthiness
- scholarshipscholar + -shipskill or state of a scholar
- citizenshipcitizen + -shipstate of being a citizen
- authorshipauthor + -shipstate of being an author
- sportsmanshipsportsman + -shipskill and conduct of a sportsman
- craftsmanshipcraftsman + -shipskill of a skilled craftsman
- apprenticeshipapprentice + -shipcondition of being an apprentice
- statesmanshipstatesman + -shipskill of governing a state
- connoisseurshipconnoisseur + -shipstate of being a connoisseur
How -ship works
The suffix '-ship' converts nouns (and occasionally adjectives) into abstract nouns denoting a state, condition, office, or skill. It attaches without spelling changes to the base word, though historically 'worship' shows a contracted base ('worth' reduced to 'wor-').
Watch out: The word 'hardship' can mislead learners into thinking '-ship' attaches to adjectives freely, but most productive bases are nouns; also, 'township' uses 'ship' in its original sense of a defined territory rather than a state or skill.
To see suffixes combine with other parts, try the word dissector and root builder, or test yourself in the vocabulary quiz.
Other common suffixes
- -able · capable of
- -ible · capable of
- -tion · act
- -ness · state
- -ly · in a specified manner
- -er · one who performs an action
- -ment · result
- -ful · full of
- -less · without
- -ous · having the quality of
- -ity · state
- -ism · doctrine
- -ist · one who practices or believes in
- -ize · to make or cause to become
- -al · of
- -ance · action
- -ence · action
- -ive · tending to
Questions people ask
What does the suffix -ship mean?
-ship means “state, condition, office, or skill of”. It comes from Old English -scipe. The suffix '-ship' converts nouns (and occasionally adjectives) into abstract nouns denoting a state, condition, office, or skill. It attaches without spelling changes to the base word, though historically 'worship' shows a contracted base ('worth' reduced to 'wor-').
What are some examples of words with the suffix -ship?
friendship, hardship, leadership, membership, ownership, partnership, worship, scholarship. The full list of 15 examples, with what each one literally means, is above.
Which words look like they have the suffix -ship but don’t?
The word 'hardship' can mislead learners into thinking '-ship' attaches to adjectives freely, but most productive bases are nouns; also, 'township' uses 'ship' in its original sense of a defined territory rather than a state or skill.
What is a suffix?
A suffix is a word part added to the end of a word. It often changes the part of speech: -ness turns the adjective kind into the noun kindness, and -ly turns quick into the adverb quickly.