-ify /əfaɪ, ɪfaɪ/ suffix [in verbs] (also -fy)
[Language: Old French; Origin: -ifier, from Latin -ificare, from -ficare; -fy]

1. to make something be in a particular state or condition:
to purify (=make or become pure)
to clarify the situation (=make it clear)

2. to fill someone with a particular feeling:
Spiders terrify me (=make me very afraid).

3. informal to do something in a silly or annoying way:
to speechify (=make speeches, using important sounding words)

4. to make something or someone be like or typical of a person or group:
Frenchified (=like the French)

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲