a suffix forming adjectival derivatives of place names, esp. countries or cities; frequently used nominally to denote the inhabitants of the place or their language: Faroese; Japanese; Vietnamese; Viennese. By analogy with such language names, -ese occurs in coinages denoting in a disparaging, often facetious way a characteristic jargon, style, or accent: Brooklynese; bureaucratese; journalese; computerese.
[ prob. orig. -ese, later repr. Sp, Pg -es, F -ais, -ois, all -ensem -ENSIS ]