Word part · Anglo-Saxon suffix
Suffix -ship words: meaning and 19 examples
In short
The Anglo-Saxon suffix -ship (from Old English) means "the state of being; or a skill or position". Words with it include friendship, hardship, membership, relationship, ownership and leadership. It turns a person word into the bond or role that person has: friend, friendship; leader, leadership.
- Part
- -ship
- Meaning
- the state of being; or a skill or position
- Origin
- Anglo-Saxon
- Words listed
- 19
It turns a person word into the bond or role that person has: friend, friendship; leader, leadership. A few words name a skill, like penmanship.
Words with the Anglo-Saxon suffix -ship
The list runs from shorter, common words to longer ones. The bands are a rough guide built from syllable count and how common each word is in our word list, not a grade-level standard. Read each word, then its word sum.
Colors:prefixroot or basesuffix
Start here: short, common words (about grades 3 and 4)
| Word | Word sum | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| friendship | friend (root or base)+ship (suffix)→friendship | the bond between friends |
| hardship | hard (root or base)+ship (suffix)→hardship | a time that is hard to live through |
Next: longer words (about grades 5 and 6)
| Word | Word sum | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| membership | member (root or base)+ship (suffix)→membership | the state of being a member |
| relationship | relation (root or base)+ship (suffix)→relationship | the way two people or things are connected |
| ownership | owner (root or base)+ship (suffix)→ownership | the state of being the owner of something |
| leadership | leader (root or base)+ship (suffix)→leadership | the skill or position of a leader |
| readership | reader (root or base)+ship (suffix)→readership | all the people who read something |
| partnership | partner (root or base)+ship (suffix)→partnership | the state of working as partners |
| championship | champion (root or base)+ship (suffix)→championship | a contest to find the champion, or the title itself |
| sportsmanship | sportsman (root or base)+ship (suffix)→sportsmanship | playing fair and being a good winner or loser |
| scholarship | scholar (root or base)+ship (suffix)→scholarship | money to help a student pay for school |
| fellowship | fellow (root or base)+ship (suffix)→fellowship | friendly feeling among people who share something |
| penmanship | penman (root or base)+ship (suffix)→penmanship | the skill of handwriting |
| authorship | author (root or base)+ship (suffix)→authorship | the state of being the author |
| township | town (root or base)+ship (suffix)→township | a small area of local government |
More words: kinship
Stretch: long or less common words (about grades 7 and 8)
| Word | Word sum | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| citizenship | citizen (root or base)+ship (suffix)→citizenship | the state of being a citizen |
More words: friendships, hardships
How do you teach the suffix -ship?
Start with friend and friendship. A friend is a person, but a friendship is the thing two friends share. Most -ship words follow that pattern: a partner and a partnership, a member and a membership, a citizen and citizenship. Then show the skill sense with penmanship and sportsmanship, which name how well someone does something. Students meet leadership and championship in sports and school news, so use those for practice.
A quick routine
Write friend, leader, member, champion and owner. Say, "Ship turns a person into what that person has or does. A leader shows leadership." The student adds the suffix, reads the word, and finishes the frame "A ___ has ___ship." Ask which word names a skill instead of a bond, and steer them to sportsmanship if needed. Dictate hardship last and talk about how it means a hard time.
What do students mix up with -ship?
A spaceship, a flagship and a battleship are boats or craft, so ship there is a whole word joined to another word, a compound. Ask the student whether the word names a vessel or a state. Worship comes from an old phrase about worth and is best left out of a beginning list.
For the sounds inside these words, see the phonics word lists. Routines that fit: meanings of prefixes and suffixes, circle the parts, read the base and flexible routine for big words.
Questions people ask
What does the suffix -ship mean?
-ship means "the state of being; or a skill or position". It is a Anglo-Saxon suffix. It turns a person word into the bond or role that person has: friend, friendship; leader, leadership. A few words name a skill, like penmanship.
What are some words with the suffix -ship?
Start with friendship and hardship. Then move to membership, relationship, citizenship and friendships. This page lists 19 words in all, most with a word sum that shows the parts.
Is the ship in friendship the same word as a boat?
No. The suffix comes from an Old English ending meaning shape or condition, and the boat word is separate. They only look alike. In friendship nothing floats; the word names a bond between people.
Related word parts
- -hoodthe time or state of being; or a group of
- -domthe state of being; or the land or rank of
- -nessthe state of being
- -era person or thing that does something
- -sometending to, or causing
- -wardin the direction of
Terms on this page: morpheme, root, prefix, suffix, base word, word sum, morphology.
Teach word parts with ready lessons
Literacy Trail has word parts lessons with words to read, build, split and spell, and full-screen players for the student. Every plan starts with a 15-day free trial.