'baldish' is formed by adding the adjective-forming suffix '-ish' to 'bald' (English). The suffix '-ish' comes from Old English '-isc', used to form adjectives meaning 'having the quality of'.

'baldish' developed in modern English by combining the existing adjective 'bald' with the productive suffix '-ish'; 'bald' itself comes from Old English 'bald' (early senses related to whiteness or bare spots) and the suffix '-isc' became Middle English '-ish' and then modern English '-ish'.

The element 'bald' originally had senses related to a white patch or bare area in early Germanic/Old English usage and later came to mean 'hairless'; the suffix '-ish' adds a sense of approximation ('somewhat' or 'tending to'), so 'baldish' now means 'somewhat bald' or 'rather bald'.