In the manner or direction of a bird; following the path or characteristics of birds.
Compound of 'bird' (Old English 'brid') and 'wise' (Old English 'wīs' meaning direction or manner). The suffix '-wise' became productive in English by the 1600s for indicating manner or direction.
The '-wise' suffix is a linguistic powerhouse that lets us create new adverbs freely—you can say 'clockwise,' 'lengthwise,' or even modern coinages like 'weatherwise.' It's one of English's most productive word-building tools.
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