[1715–25; saltire + -wise]This word is first recorded in the period 1715–25. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: anesthesia, blackleg, federation, leverage, portfolio-wise is a suffix used to form adverbs denoting manner, position, direction, reference,etc. Other words that use the affix -wise include: barwise, stepwise, sunwise, warpwise, weftwise