-ary

suff.

1. Of or relating to: bacillary.

2. One that relates to or is connected with: boundary.

[Middle English -arie, from Old French, from Latin -ārius, adj. and n. suff.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

-ary

suffix

1. (forming adjectives) of; related to; belonging to: cautionary; rudimentary.

2. (forming nouns)

a. a person connected with or engaged in: missionary.

b. a thing relating to; a place for: commentary; aviary.

[from Latin -ārius, -āria, -ārium]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

-ary

a suffix with the general sense “pertaining to, connected with” the referent named by the base, occurring orig. in loanwords from Latin, as adjectives (elementary; honorary), personal nouns (secretary), or nouns denoting objects, esp. receptacles or places (library; glossary); in English it sometimes has the additional senses “contributing to,” “for the purpose of,” usu. forming adjectives: complimentary; inflationary.

[Middle English -arie < Latin -ārius, -a, -um; E personal nouns reflect -ārius, objects and places -ārium or -āria]