-atorysuff.1. a. Of or relating to: perspiratory.b. Tending to: amendatory.2. One that is connected with: reformatory.[From Latin -?t?rius and -?t?rium, both from -?tor, -ator.]American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.-atory suffix forming adjectives of, relating to, characterized by, or serving to: circulatory; exploratory; migratory; explanatory. [from Latin -?t?rius; see -ate1, -ory2]Collins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014-atory a combination of -ate1 and -ory1 or -ory2, used infrequently as an independent suffix with the same senses as -ory1 and -ory2: affirmatory; observatory. [