-witz

See also: witz and Witz

English

Etymology

Borrowed from German -witz.

Suffix

-witz

1. Added to a stem to form a patronymic or matronymic surname.

Usage notes

Along with -berg and -stein, -witz is a stereotypically Ashkenazi suffix. For example:

• 1987, Sarah Blacher Cohen, “The Unkosher Comediennes: From Sophie Tucker to Joan Rivers”, in Jewish Wry: Essays on Jewish Humor, Detroit: Wayne State University Press, →ISBN, page 121:

  Rivers delights in spreading the most malicious gossip about Heidi Abromowitz to titillate both herself and her audiences. For Heidi, who never lets herself “get tied down to housework,” if she “can get tied down to a bed instead”²⁹, is the sexual transgressor whom we outwardly condemn but covertly like to emulate. Her actions are comically incongruous with her Jewish-sounding name, for instead of striving to be the biblical eyshes chayil (the dutiful women of valor), she is the liberated whore with the heart of gold.

Derived terms

English terms suffixed with -witz

Levkowitz

German

Etymology

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From a Slavic suffix meaning "son of", such as Serbo-Croatian -vić, Slovene -vič, Belarusian -віч (-vič, “-vich”) and Ukrainian -вич (-vyč, “-vych”).

Suffix

-witz

1. (no longer productive, only occuring in borrowings) A surname suffix

Descendants

• → English: -witz

See also

• -vitz
• Horowitz, Horzowitz