-ry, suffix
a reduced form of -ery, occurring chiefly after an unstressed syllable ending in d, t, l, n, or sh (the usual type being words of three syllables with the stress on the first), but also in a few cases after stressed vowels or diphthongs. The older examples sometimes represent OF. forms in -rie, with variants in -erie, but the great majority are comparatively late English formations. Examples of the various types are heraldry, husbandry, ribaldry, wizardry; casuistry, dentistry, harlotry, infantry, papistry, peasantry, tenantry; chivalry, devilry, rivalry; blazonry, yeomanry; Englishry, Irishry; avowry, Jewry. In some cases both -ery and -ry are in use, as baptist(e)ry, command(e)ry, jewel(le)ry.