Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Language: Old English
Origin: -scipe

-ship

 suffix
     
-ship [in nouns]
1
XX a particular position or job, or the time during which you have it:
He was offered a professorship (=the job of professor).
in Mr Major's premiership (=when he was prime minister)
her application for British citizenship
2 the state of having something:
Private car ownership has almost doubled in the past 10 years.
Their friendship developed soon afterwards.
3XX a particular art or skill:
his superb musicianship
a work of great scholarship
 ➔ -manship
4XX all the people in a particular group:
a magazine with a readership of 9000 (=with 9000 readers)
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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