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The English meaning of -wise is the following.

-wise adverb combining form

Definition of -wise (Entry 5 of 5)
1a : in the manner of
    crabwise fanwise
b : in the position or direction of
    slantwise clockwise
2 : with regard to : in respect of
    dollarwise

However, I'm unable to find in any German sources what -weise means. But I know the following words:

  • mysteriöserweise and its synonym,
  • geheimnisvollerweise
    both meaning in a mysterious way/manner
  • beziehungsweise
    meaning respectively

From the aspect of etymology, we know that the English version of -wise also comes from German. Is it possible that both of these adverbs mean mostly the same?

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    can you clarify what you mean by "the English version of -wise also comes from German"? "-wise" is cognate with German "-weise", but neither derives from the other, instead they share a common ancestor in Proto-West-Germanic *-wīse
    – Tristan
    May 13, 2022 at 13:53
  • Exaclty, I meant that the common ancestor is a Germanic branch.
    – ntj
    May 13, 2022 at 14:58
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    They’re fairly equivalent, yes. Weise as a noun means ‘way, manner’, and as a suffix it mostly means ‘in a ___ manner’ or ‘in a ___ way’, but is also used just to form adverbs from adjectives, more so than in English, where -ly is productive. Some more common examples include normalerweise ‘normally’, glücklicherweise ‘luckily’, teilweise ‘part(ial)ly’, möglicherweise ‘possibly’, paarweise ‘in pairs’, stückweise ‘by units’, zeitweise ‘at times’, etc.
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    May 13, 2022 at 15:12
  • @JanusBahsJacquet tbf, in lots of those instances variants in -wise do exist in English, even if the form in -ly is vastly more common
    – Tristan
    May 13, 2022 at 15:15
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    @JanusBahsJacquet That would make a good answer (maybe with an additional note comparing -ly and -lich).
    – Draconis ♦
    May 13, 2022 at 18:34

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As a noun, it means 'in a manner/ fashion', as a measurement, 'by the' and as a suffix,'-ly'. So they're similar in a way.

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